Emerald Princess
by Lightning Blade
Summary: Eva was a self-centred and arrogant girl, partly because she seemed to have everything that she desired; the main role in her favourite play, a luxurious life, a cute boyfriend, etc, etc. But what if another 'prince charming' came in the form of Deidara?
1. Chapter 1:Drama of Fabulous Life

**All Naruto characters are owned by Masashi Kishimoto.**

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Chapter 1 – Drama of Fabulous Life

A girl with a pair of large spectacles on her button nose sprinted through the mass of actors and actresses in the backstage. She went through the large throng, saying hello to almost every one of them, before knocking on the door with a star sign of it. The name 'Eva Black' adorned the shiny yellow star.

"Oh my god! What have you done to my face? Give me that! Let me do it myself!" An assertive female voice came out from the other side of the door.

The tired girl waiting at the door bit her lips in apprehension, but opted that she had better entered the lead actress' room before she had to face the music. Slowly, she turned on the golden doorknob and walked inside to see a beautiful girl about her age. Her face was beetroot red, which much reminded her of a ticking time-bomb waiting to explode at any moment. Another girl left hurriedly, and Sarah swore that she could see those sad tears in her eyes.

"Sarah! Where's my coffee?" Eva shouted at the top of her bossy voice, her hand holding a bubblegum pink lipstick.

"Here…" Sarah held out the cup of coffee, which had been shaken, not stirred in the direction of Eva. As she was making her way nervously, she stumbled upon something small in her path. Suddenly, the thing barked curses at her, prompting the poor young lady to jump and drop the coffee.

"What on earth are you doing, idiot? Can't you do anything right? That's my 'princess' you're stepping on!" Eva roared, her ugly veins revealed on her temples.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…" Sarah bowed many, many times, her body shivering with fear, her tears welling up in her grey eyes.

"Out of my room! NOW!" The bossy student pointed her long, bony finger to the gold-painted wooden door. Sarah looked at her with red, swollen eyes, before stepping ruefully with short steps to the door waiting to be opened.

"Wait!" Eva spoke, still admiring herself on the mirror, not looking at Sarah, whose face turned from sadness to a bundle of hope, "Get me another coffee, will you? Shaken, not stirred?"

Sarah's curl of smile arched downwards, before exiting through the door. The obnoxious Chi-Hua-Hua barked once more, strutted to its red, comfy cushion and yawned sleepily. Eva drew her rosy lips carefully with her expensive lipstick, which was bought yesterday in Paris. Her eyes were emerald and bright and beautiful, with a silky curtain of long black hair that fell to her hour-glass-figure waist. She also had a perfect face frame to match her 'Aiswarya Rai' hair, and her olive skin was so fair that her skin tend to glow under the fluorescent light.

With her dainty fingertips, she brushed her hair aside, muttering through gritted teeth, "A coffee is all I want. Is that too much to ask?"

A few soft knocks came from the door, followed by a deep voice, "Greetings. May I find my princess who can fit into this glass slipper?"

Unlike her grumpy, drama-queen-like self, Eva replied with a sweet smile, "Come in, my prince."

The door opened to reveal a strapping, normal-built young man with striking hazel eyes. His hair was dark and gelled to the back, which added much to his hunky personality. His handsome-as-a-prince face smiled with delightfulness, but behind his smile lies a different meaning that would be troublesome if it ever showed itself.

Eva quickly hugged his boyfriend in a tight embrace, uttering with a flirtatious purr, "Ken! I can't wait for our performance! It would be totally fabulous!"

Ken spoke with a hint of nervousness, "Of course, but there's something I want to tell you."

Eva was quick to notice the white lilies behind Ken's behind, "Oh! These flowers are for me?"

"Err…" Before Ken could answer, Eva wrenched the bouquet flowers from his hands and smelled the fragrant lilies to her heart's content. She added, her twinkling emerald eyes closing themselves with a feeling of being in paradise, "Why aren't you dressed up? You know, Ken, the drama would be starting any time soon."

Ken said guiltily, his head looking down, "Eva, my Dad's in hospital. He's having a heart-attack, and those flowers are for him. I'm sorry, Eva, but I won't be going to perform…"

Without any warning, Eva threw the beautiful white flowers at Ken, who caught it frantically. Yet, some feather-like petals hit the solid marble floor with painful thuds. It was the last straw for Eva.

"How could you do this to me, Ken? You can't miss this show! You can go to your sick Daddy after this!" Eva barked.

Ken spoke, his cold sweat trickling down his forehead, "Eva, you gotta understand. My Dad's dying, and I need to see him immediately. Anyway, I'll find you a replacement…"

"I don't want a replacement! I want you to be my prince, Ken!" Eva shot back, almost pleading hopelessly. Her hands reached out for Ken to hold, but Ken turned away with a disappointed frown.

"I thought you'll understand, Eva," With that, Ken left the room, leaving Eva shrieking like a mad banshee for him, but it was to no avail. Ken had already left.

"Ahhhh! Why is this happening toe me?" Eva made a few angry stomps, before storming out the room. She bumped into Sarah, causing both of them to trip, along with the hot, steamy cup of coffee in Sarah's hands. The chocolate liquid spilled onto the cold floor and flowed itself into Eva's new snow-white dress.

Sarah gasped, "I'm sorry! Let me wipe your-" Her shaky hands went forward to clean the black, ugly stains on Eva's costly dress, but Eva rudely slapped them away.

"I'm out of here!" Eva shouted at Sarah's frightened face, "I'm going home!"

She scrambled to her feet quickly and ran through the crowded corridor, ignoring Sarah's trembling voice, "W-W-What about the performance?"

With those annoying words swirling in her grey matter, Eva made a sharp turn to the school gate.

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End of Chapter 1

**By the way, this is my first attempt in writting a Naruto fan-fiction. Do you like it? I hope that the first chapter turns out to be well-received, and please give me some reviews. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2:Death Sentence

Chapter 2 – Death Sentence

Pacing left and right at the school gate, Eva was waiting in vain for her call to be picked up by her chauffer.

"Come on, useless old git!" She shouted at her 'Nokia' handphone, her sweaty hand clutching the mobile phone tighter and tighter.

"Sorry, please try later," The phone replied in a monotonous, matron voice. At this, Eva cried out one of her horrible, ear-deafening screams, drawing weird stares from the curious walking passers-by. Without any hesitation, she then dumped her most favourite handphone into the murky drain, creating a huge puddle of mud as a result. Noticed the dirty looks given to her by the strangers around her, Eva gave a jabbing stare at them, muttering dangerously,

"What are you looking at, busybodies? Never seen a pretty girl before?"

O O O

A white bird was suspended in the middle of the cloudless sky, though its long wings were still flapping gently. Deidara slowly lifted his conical straw hat from his head, as his watchful eyes fixed upon Eva. His left hand ignorantly tossed the hat away into the wind, and carefully adjusted the lens of the mini camera on his piercing blue eye. His golden blonde bang that ran down to his chin flitted about his smirking handsome face. The camera clicked a few times, before the tall man murmured to himself,

"The mole on her right cheek… She must be the 'Jinchuuriki' (demon spirit) Itachi meant, un. The problem is how to catch her."

Deidara's ringed forefinger rubbed his smooth chin with his eyes closed thoughtfully. His high ponytail was flailing slightly to the left, following the flow of the wind. Finally, his eyes opened widely, and an evil smirk plastered on his eager face.

"No matter. I'll just have to catch her the hard way, un. Sorry, Sasori-danna (Master)," Deidara smiled coyly at the limitless sky, as though he was talking to his deceased partner, "Sneak-attacks are just not my style, un."

Deidara went on all four on his clay bird, and both of them plunged in the direction of Eva, headfirst.

O O O

"Hello! Didn't you guys hear my question, or are you just deaf?" Eva babbled angrily at the pedestrians, who seemed to have completely forgotten about her. All of them were staring at the velvet sky in dead silence, with the older ones having conspicuous horrified looks on their faces.

A random man stuttered, "I-i-is that the…"

"Akatsuki!" A lady screamed in terror, shattering the peace in the small town. Like lambs before a butcher, everyone fled helter-skelter, unleashing their greatest fear in a frenzy stampede. Everyone, except Eva, ran for their lives.

"Akatsuki?" Eva narrowed her eyes with confusion stirring in her perplexed mind, unaware of the impending danger behind her, "What's an 'Akatsuki'?"

Deidara smirked silently, muttering 'Baka (Idiot)' under his breath, as his gigantic clay bird swallowed Eva whole.

After making its capture, which turned out to be a huge success, the unflinching clay bird flew to the sky once again, deserting the hue and cry among the terrified pedestrians on the street. Deidara's cup of contentment was over-flowing. Smirking with pure delight and confidence, he snorted,

"Too easy. It's hard to believe she's a 'Jinchuuriki', un."

"Let me out!" A thunderous voice escaped from the clay bird, "Who do you think you are? Steal me like that, you jerk-face!"

"You are noisy, 'Jinchuuriki'. Shut up, un," Deidara spoke with a stern voice, his feet stomping onto the clay-cemented bird.

"You shut up, jerk-face!" Eva shouted, her throat straining in a stabbing pain, "I swear… I'll sue you in court, and you'll get death sentence for this!"

"No need for you to do that, 'Jinchuuriki'," Deidara replied sarcastically, "You'll be _dead_ before you'll get to see me in jail, un."

Eva's deadly eyes glared at the imaginary ceiling of the small dark chamber. She pressed her face onto her knees, biting her pale red lips violently at the same time. Her swollen throat was going through a lot of excruciating pain, and she could not shout anymore. There was no way she could make an emergency call, for her handphone had gone down into the drain. With every nanosecond counted, she could feel her pulse was rising drastically, not because of the fear of the eternal darkness in the cage, but because of the word 'dead' spoken by her captor.

"_No, of course I won't die!" _Her heart whispered out desperately,_ "I'm too young to die! I just have to find my way out! There must be a door or an opening somewhere…"_

Her emerald eyes were blinded by the shrouds of darkness around her. As blind as a bat, Eva held out her hands to grope her surrounding, feeling like an idiot who was trying to do a meaningless work. She realised the walls were soft and sticky like marshmallow. She pinched a tiny piece of the marshmallow-like material, and cautiously put it on her tongue.

"Uwek!" Eva spat out spitefully, her rosy cheeks changing to purple, "Who is stupid enough to eat this _thing_? Ughhh!"

"Ah-Ah-Ah-Cho!"

The sneezing sound coming from above was loud and distinct, but Eva gave no hoots about it. With her glowing maroon-polished fingernails, she dug a dark spot with one single determination of escaping from this 'death sentence' alive.

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End of Chapter 2

(Author's note: One of the Japanese or Asian cultures is that if someone talks bad about a certain person, the latter will sneeze.)


	3. Chapter 3:Tobi's Sharingan

**Should I continue this story? I have not received any reviews, so I'm wondering whether this story is any good. But anyway, here is the third chapter.**

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Chapter 3 – Tobi's Sharingan

A large humanoid venus flytrap emerged sneakily from the earthen ground in the tropical woods, his yellow pupils daggered at the black figure, who had been leaning stiffly on an ancient oak tree for half an hour. Sun rays crept quietly through the dark-greenish forest, basking on the blue birds chirping happily on the branches in the vicinity. A familiar, child-like voice, though not very clear, reached Zetsu's sensitive ears,

"Nine hundred, ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-six…Nine hundred, ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-seven…"

Zetsu contorted his half-black, half-white face in disdain at the rhyming voice. The black part of him thought silently, _"Do you think what I'm thinking that fool is doing?"_

"_Yes,"_ The white-faced Zetsu replied, _"As always, Tobi is playing hide-and-seek with Deidara."_

Black Zetsu gave out a mirthless laugh, and corrected his other half, _"Tobi is playing hide-and-seek alone, never with Deidara. Deidara agreed to play the kid's game just to get rid of him."_

"_Let's help Deidara-kun (Junior) 'get rid of him'. I'm kind of hungry. What do you say?" _spoke White Zetsu, who then gulped a lump of saliva through his blood-thirsty throat.

Tobi, the black-haired boy, was still chanting his numbers innocently, "Nine hundred, ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-eight…Nine hundred, ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine…"

"_I wonder…"_ Black Zetsu mused to himself, _"Would we become like that retard if we stuff him into our body?"_

White Zetsu frowned with a sea of worried lines on his milky forehead, "_Great!_ _You had just ruined my appetite." _

"One million!" Tobi jumped to face his behind, his swirled, orange mask shimmered brightly under the hot sun, "You can run but you can't hide, Deidara-sempai! (Senior!)"

Tobi immediately darted across the green grass with dead leaves rustling at his toeless shoes. His cloak was dark, decorated with red clouds and similar to Zetsu's own costume, implying that two of them were colleagues under the Akatsuki organisation. Zetsu, who was only about a short distance away from Tobi, did not migrate from his spot; he believed that with the advantage of him bearing his plant-like facial features and colours, he could blend well with the greeneries at the very floral scene. His attentive eyes followed Tobi out of the woods. Unexpectedly, Tobi sprung around, causing Zetsu's heart to jump out of his massive chest with an odd pang of utter surprise and disbelief.

"Zetsu-san! (Mr.Zetsu!)" Tobi called out cheerfully to the speechless Zetsu, "Let's find Deidara-sempai together! Whoever catches him first buys ice-creams! Good luck, Zetsu-san!"

Zetsu's heart was throbbing greatly, as though he had just witnessed Tobi using his 'Sharingan' on him. Smiling toothily behind his 'lollipop' mask, Tobi scampered out excitedly, accompanied by the alarming sound of his light footsteps.

"_That boy smells fishy…"_ Black Zetsu's thread of thought lingered indignantly.

"_But not as fishy as Kisame," _thought White Zetsu, triggering a regretful sigh from his black-faced neighbour; he was not at the very least elated at the fact that he would stuck with his pain-in-the-neck partner for the rest of his life.

O O O

Eva let out a soft shriek, as she looked down at her filthy fingernails, which had been treated with a luxurious manicure recently. The lustre of her precious fingernails had lost tremendously, much to her dismay. She could picture herself being a laughing stock among her great circle of friends, who, like her, had taken good care of their fingernails for the sake of pride and fame. Her awful, deepening thoughts then slipped away, and she set her teary eyes again on the small light escaping from the hole that she had created.

"_Just you wait, jerk-face!"_ Eva clenched her pearly-white teeth, as she widened the hole of freedom with her jaded, already-jagged fingers. Soon after, she stuck her head out of the gaping hole almost impatiently, and what she saw made her gape. White cotton clouds were passing by her face only by a mere inch; from that, she knew how far she was from the earth. Very far.

"That's as far as you go, Jinchuuriki," Deidara whispered to Eva's ear from behind, as though he was sharing his darkest secret with her, "You can't escape, un."

Eva's heart stopped. She quickly turned behind to see a young man sitting relaxingly on the bird, with his legs crossed. The first thing about him that aroused her attention and interest was the platinum-blonde ponytail on his head; it was so high and silky that anyone could have easily mistaken him as a girl. His smirk was somewhat evil, but was quite pleasing to the eyes. Eva felt her hollow cheeks turning hot and red, reminding her of how she had felt the same way for her boyfriend, Ken, on their first meeting.

Now she was worried whether her steady relationship with Ken had come to an end, after that last disastrous meeting she had with him several moments ago…

"Don't you ever dare call me 'jerk-face' again," Deidara's deep voice crashed Eva's train of thoughts into a million pieces, "I'm Deidara, un."

Eva snarled, "I don't care what your name is, jerk-face! And what's with the 'un-un' sound? Are you constipated or something?"

Deidara's thick yellowish eyebrows rose in a knit of unendurable anger, and his eyes fiercely stared at Eva's, with the pink colour on his cheeks became more dangerously pronounced than ever. Eva stared back at him, trying not to betray a hint of fear through her facial expression and body language. The gusty wind beat upon their faces, but none of them seemed to be bothered by the annoyingly-strong breeze. With their unblinking eyes held in a deadlock, Deidara spoke,

"Watch your mouth, 'Jinchuuriki'. Do you know what I did to my partner with his foul mouth, un?"

"What?" Eva asked curtly.

Deidara replied, "I suffocated-"

"There you are!" A merry, boyish voice came out of nowhere, "I'm coming to tag your arm, Deidara-sempai!"

Out of curiosity, Eva heaved herself up from the hole, and looked down at a strange, orange-masked man chasing them.

"Deidara-sempai! Wait for me!" Tobi waved his arms beckoningly, his steady legs still racing on the vast field to catch up with Deidara's clay bird.

Deidara smacked his forehead hard, unconsciously slapping the wet lips on his palm against his own epidermis, "Speak of the devil, un… 'Jinchuuriki'!"

"Huh?" Eva gave a blank look at Deidara, who was watching her from the corner of his eyes.

"Hold on to me, 'Jinchuuriki'. We'll fly in full speed, un," Deidara spoke; his thin lips pursed tightly, his hand holding out in the direction of Eva.

For the first time, Eva stammered, "W-w-what did you just tell me to do?"

Deidara growled, "I want you to hold on to me, 'baka'!" He roughly grabbed one of Eva's dirty hands and put it on his right biceps. Though she was too overwhelmed to curl her fingers around Deidara's muscular arm, she could feel a non-imaginary sense of security coming from him. No matter how weird and inconceivable the feeling was, Eva felt…_happy_.

"Don't fall! Ready, un?" Deidara said with a serious voice. Eva's heart was beating so fast that she thought it would explode at any moment.

"Un…" Eva murmured breathlessly. Without any delay, Deidara's clay bird streaked towards the mountains like a jet plane, leaving Tobi's echoing voice behind.

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End of Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4:Sand of Time

**Hello! Thanks for the great reviews. I hope that you like this one, and please tell me what you think about it! :)**

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Chapter 4 – Sand of Time

Two men in Akatsuki cloaks marched menacingly into an old shabby inn, which was situated in the depths of the mountains. The cold wind blew at their faces morosely. Itachi, the shorter man among two, lifted his straw head lazily from his head, showing off his long jet-black hair that nearly fell to his shoulders. A shiny headband protector on his forehead had an irreversible, deep cut on it. His crimson red eyes were frighteningly cold and emotionless and had two sinister lines below them.

Itachi took his seat at a broken table in a dark and isolated corner. His long-time partner followed suit, before furiously stabbing his bandaged shark-skin sword into the earthen sand.

"Itachi-san, I wasn't keen when you told Deidara-kun about the Jinchuuriki's whereabouts. That 'Jinchuurki' is yours to claim."

Itachi put his yellow straw hat onto the dusty table, his blood-shot eyes silently looking sideways at his accomplice, as if saying, "I know what I'm doing, Kisame."

Kisame smirked dismissively, "It's been a while since we caught any 'Jinchuuriki', Itachi-san. Let's forget that 'Jinchuuriki' I've spoken of. Naruto is our perfect target. I heard that he has grown strong…"

Itachi stared thoughtfully at Kisame, whose face had distinctive shark-like appearance, complete with a pair of small white eyes, pale blue skin with bulging gills, and sharp triangular teeth. Similar to Itachi's, a shadowed forehead protector with a vivid cut was fitted right onto Kisame's forehead under his ocean-blue hair. Kisame's evil smirk then subsided into a bemused frown, noticing how long he had waited for Itachi to give him an answer, a good answer.

Finally, Itachi spoke with his eyes closed, "Not now, Kisame. I have my own matters to settle."

Kisame shrugged, his bored eyes diverting away from Itachi to look at the empty space at the door. Suddenly, a boy trotted inside, his small hands holding out a piece of paper excitedly.

"Papa!" He exclaimed on his way to an old folk standing at the counter, "I got an 'A' in the writing exam!"

The boy's father gave the paper a quick look and spoke hastily, "Good for you, my boy. Now help me clean the dishes."

The ear-to-ear smile drawn on the young boy's face faded away immediately into a disappointed pout. "Okay, Papa," his sorrowful voice tailed with a note of resentment.

"Sasuke…" Itachi uttered curtly at the boy, who looked at him with bewildered, teary eyes. He added with a vague smile, "Sasuke…or whoever you are, congratulations."

The young boy blinked his deep blue eyes repeatedly, triggering hot tears to splash onto the dirty sand. He quickly mopped his annoying tears away with his stained sleeve.

"Thanks, mister," The boy sniffed, "My grade's nothing, actually, compared to my older brother. I wish I could be just like him…"

The boy looked down ruefully at his bare feet, watching his tears dropping onto the ground into small, insignificant puddles. Upon seeing this, a bittersweet sense of déjà vu crossed Itachi's mind, taking him back to the vista of years where he had killed his entire clan and deliberately left the only living Uchiha alone, his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha. Somehow, Itachi thought that he did the right thing of sparing his brother's life, knowing that Sasuke would become stronger than him when the time comes.

"Don't be like your brother. Be yourself," Itachi patted the boy on the head, "You'll eventually surpass your brother one day."

The boy was startled more by Itachi's piercing red eyes than his rather strange, dark purple fingernails that touched his flame-haired head. He smiled nervously, "Mister, I'm not sure of what you're saying, but thanks, anyway."

The timid-looking boy gave Itachi a respectful bow, before running off into the kitchen. His test paper was still held high in his proud hands.

"That reminds me…" Kisame's gruff voice broke Itachi's concentration on the disappearing boy, "You _do_ have a little brother, Itachi-san. That midget tried to kill you in our pursuit for Naruto two years ago. His name is-"

"Sasuke," Itachi interrupted, "But I doubt he's a midget now."

"Hmm…Probably, Itachi-san. I can't wait for him to show up, so we can shave him off for good," Kisame said with finality, his pale blue hand pouring some sake (Japanese wine) into a small cup made of china. As he was enjoying his favourite drink, a loud, shrilling voice rudely shook him out of his sweet reverie.

"Deidara-sempai! Where are you, sempai?"

_Cough! Cough!_ Kisame coughed out his sake miserably, his hand thumping hard onto his chest in an effort to relieve his flaring choked throat. Without any word spoken, Itachi's eyes switched from the coughing Kisame to Tobi, who was already at the door. Tobi zoomed towards Itachi's table, his glowing orange mask sweating profusely.

"Itachi-san… Kisame-san… Have you… seen Deidara-sempai…around?" Tobi panted.

"No, Tobi-kun," Itachi replied solemnly, "Aren't you supposed to be catching 'Jinchuuriki' with Deidara?"

"You're wrong, Itachi-san…Deidara-sempai promised…we play 'hide and seek'…today… Tobi needs…to find him..." Tobi said breathlessly, his gloved hands resting on his wobbly knees.

Purple with rage over how Tobi had ruined his intimate moment with his precious sake, Kisame pulled his sword from the rough ground and growled out at Tobi, "I'll help you find him, once I'll tear you apart from limb to limb!"

Tobi spoke chokingly, his right eye shining with happy tears, "Really? You'll help Tobi…find him…Thanks, Kisame-san…Tobi will share…delicious ice-creams…with you…"

With that awkward line, Tobi toppled onto the solid ground at Kisame's feet.

O O O

Gaara's greenish feline eyes fell upon a photo of a beautiful girl smiling back at him with a sincere smile. Studying the girl's face with great interest, his heart slightly fluttered with an odd tingling feeling of happiness. In the sepia-toned photo, she still had those kind emerald eyes that she had years ago, when Gaara first met him, long before he was the Kazekage of the Sand Village, long before he befriended Naruto, and long before everything good that had happened to him…

"He's a monster!" The sharp voice of his darkest past was swirling maniacally in Gaara's brain, "Don't go near him! He'll kill you!"

It seemed like it was only yesterday when Gaara played on the swing of solitary in the sandy playground alone. He had no one to play with, except the lifeless sand that can move into different shapes on its own accord. Saying 'hi' to anyone was an unforgivable sin, because the only reply that would be bestowed upon him was a cold, frightened look that spoke no words of love. Tears kept falling from his swollen eyes, yet no one seemed to care, not even his own Kazekage father, until…

"Hi!" A girly voice suddenly reached his ears, "Want my ice-cream? It's vanilla."

Gaara looked up at the complete stranger. What he saw made him stared at her with pure surprise. She was the most beautiful 'angel' he had ever seen in his lifetime. _Is she smiling at me?_ _Is she really smiling at me?_ Another large tear flowed down his chubby cheek, slowly but surely. He had realised how a mere smile could mean so much to him; it made him feel so good inside, like he was worthy enough to exist on the face of this planet.

The girl with gentle emerald eyes frowned, "Hey…Are you crying?"

"Go away," Gaara spoke in a raspy, choking voice, "You don't want to come near me. I'm a monster."

"If you're a monster, I'm a princess," The girl retorted, before dissolving into silly fits of giggle.

"Why are you laughing at me?" Gaara squeaked innocently.

"I think you're cute. What's your name?" The girl smiled warmly.

Gaara's mind was a complete blank, but something inside him made his lips mouth, "Gaara."

"Gaa-ra…" The peculiar girl giggled again, her long ponytail shaking along with her, "You know what? I'll have that name stuck in my head forever. So Gaara, here's your ice-cream. My treat!"

The girl had a snowy ice-cream in her dainty hand, and it was already melting. Gaara's trembling hand made an effort for the ice-cream -the first kindness that had ever been shown to him by a human, apart from his dearest maternal uncle. Then, as fate would have it, Gaara's sand instinctively curled around the ice-cream, wrapped it into a tight ball and violently crushed it into countless droplets of cream. The girl screamed, her sticky hand cupping over her gasping mouth.

"I'm sorry…" Gaara's voice broke, "I didn't mean to…"

"Wow, that's amazing!" The girl's eyes dilated into shiny emerald orbs, "That sand can move by itself! You're so cool, Gaara!"

Gaara's face turned ghostly pale, "B-b-but the ice-cream…"

"Forget about the ice-cream! I'll get you another one!" Smiling gleefully, the girl held out her wrinkleless hand to Gaara, "Speaking about 'forget', I forgot to introduce myself. My name's…"

"Eva!"A tanned hand swooped Eva's arm away by force, "Are you nuts? That's Gaara you're talking to!"

"I know he's Gaara, Ken! Stop dragging me!" Eva struggled to break free from Ken's clutches, but Ken's brute strength was proven too much for her.

"Eva, that 'Gaara' is not normal! He's…He's a…" Ken bit his lips, while his index finger kept pointing at Gaara.

"_He's a monster."_

O O O

_Tuk tuk tuk!_ _"Kazekage-sama!"_ A male voice trailed from the office door, prompting Gaara to sit upright. The door slammed open, and came in a familiar figure into the room.

"Have you received my letter with the photo, Kazekage-sama(Sir)?" The boy said with a worn-out expression on his dashing face.

Gaara's bony fingers ran along the edges of the passport-sized photo he was holding, "Yes, Ken. I'll save Eva-chan from the Akatsuki."

* * *

End Of Chapter 4

(Author's note: To those who are wondering, 'Kazekage' is the chief of the Sand Village, whereas 'Hokage' is the chief of the Village Hidden in The Leaves. The word 'chan' is used for a close female friend. However, in this case, Gaara had never seen Eva again since the first day they met, though he sometimes felt that Eva was some sort of a very close friend to him).

**Thanks for reading until this far! I'm trying to finish this story as soon as possible, so see you soon!**


	5. Chapter 5:Happy Family

Chapter 5 – Happy Family

Throughout the breath-taking journey, Eva had her eyes squinted and her sweaty hands tugged as tightly as possible on Deidara's sleeves. The clay bird had been flying for hours continuously in an unimaginable speed through a great valley between the mountains, bringing them to 'nowhere'. Eva could not guess where they were heading to; she only knew that the doll-like bird had turned right, then left, then right again…

"Are we there yet, jerk-face?" Eva whined, as she felt her stomach squirming and something she had eaten went up her throat.

"Almost there," Deidara nodded yes, "And would you stop calling me 'jerk-face', 'Jinchuuriki'? You're pissing me off, un."

"Okay, whatever you say, Mister Constipated," Eva scowled.

"You're really, really pissing me off!" Deidara barked, his hands digging into his pouches of clay under his black cloak. The mouths on his palms chewed the clay hungrily, before spitting out amazingly life-like white spiders. Deidara laughed haughtily, as his artistic creations were commenced to crawl over his arms. Eva stared at the spiders bouncing on Deidara's shoulders with amusement.

"Are these your pets? They are what they're called…adorable," Eva sniggered.

"Let's see if 'this' is adorable, un," Deidara smirked once more with an evil twinkle on his eye. His spiders jumped independently towards a huge rock below them, with their tiny legs glued neatly onto the coarse surface of the stone. Deidara quickly placed his hands in a hand-sign position, before exclaiming aloud, "Katsu!(Scold!)"

In a split second, the rock exploded into a billion of dust particles, which went floating around eerily in the evening air. Eva's pinkish cheeks faded to grey, her terrified eyes still staring across the ruins strewn over those filthy rocks. The delicate hands of hers turned cold and eventually let go of Deidara's shoulders.

"I'll blow you up if you call me names again, un," Deidara warned.

Eva's lips trembled tremendously, "M-m-mommy…Daddy…Why?"

"What on earth did you just call me, 'Jinchuuriki'?" Deidara asked quizzically, feeling something amiss. His blonde head turned behind and was petrified to see…

"Long time no see, Deidara-kun," Itachi's voice rang alarmingly in Deidara's ears.

The clay bird came to an abrupt halt and hovered in the middle of the velvet sky. A sea of worried lines appeared on Deidara's forehead, but was completely hidden under his scarred headband protector. Itachi was just a few metres away from him, standing on top of a clouded mountain with another ferocious ninja, Kisame.

"Itachi," Deidara hissed, "What-have-you-done-to-my-'Jinchuuriki', un?"

"I am _looking_ at her eyes, Deidara-kun. She is beautiful, isn't she?" Itachi spoke coldly, his 'Sharingan' eyes activating to their fullest power.

Kisame whistled and said in jest, "Oh yeah, she's beautiful! If you don't mind, Deidara-kun, I'm going to make her my wife."

Deidara immediately pulled Eva towards him, and grabbed her in a protective, tight embrace. Eva's head rested upon his warm shoulder, but did not say a word. Tears filled up her frightened eyes, as she recalled the most horrible thing she had seen a while ago. It was her tainted past that she tried so hard to forget, and it was all coming back to her.

"This 'Jinchuuriki' is mine, un!" Deidara growled, "Touch her and you'll die!"

Itachi shook his head, as though he was disappointed with what he heard, "Deidara-kun, you're a fool. That girl is not a 'Jinchuuriki'."

Deidara was taken aback by Itachi's shocking news, but he managed to give a nasty smirk and say, "Are you trying to play me, Itachi? You told me that this 'Jinchuuriki' has a mole on her right cheek, un."

Itachi smiled half-heartedly, "Exactly, but that 'Jinchuuriki' is a _boy_. Besides, the colour of the mole is scarlet red."

Breathing heavily, Deidara quickly wiped Eva's silky black hair off her pale right cheek. Her mole was indeed anything but scarlet red; it was as black as her hair. Filled with indescribable humiliation, Deidara clenched his fist tight, his knuckles cracking, yearning to throw his most devastating C4 bomb at Itachi's impassive face.

"I've told you already! Can't you be more specific, un?" Deidara shouted straight at Itachi, "Baka!"

"Tch! Don't blame Itachi-san for your own careless mistake," Kisame said spitefully, his 'Samehada' (shark-skin sword) hanging ominously over his shoulder.

Itachi spoke indifferently, "Even though I'll be more specific, you're weak, Deidara-kun…just like my foolish little brother…just like Sasori-san…"

"Shut up! Katsu!"

_Boom!_ The exact spot where Itachi and Kisame were standing exploded in red, triggering landslides to occur on the misty mountain. Deidara's eyes strained hard to probe around like a hawk, searching for any charred bodies left behind. He had a bad feeling that both the S-ranked criminals had escaped successfully with substitution jutsu, and another bad feeling of him being watched closely by Itachi in dead silence…

"I finally caught you," A suspicious voice echoed from Deidara's behind, "Game over, Deidara-sempai!"

Bewildered and slightly shocked, Deidara's head turned, his fearful blue eyes fixing upon Itachi's red 'Sharingan' eyes on the same level. Deidara's heart stopped when Itachi smacked him on the arm.

"Tobi caught Deidara-sempai!" Itachi sang, as he danced jubilantly on the clay bird.

Deidara muttered angrily, "Itachi, what is the meaning of this, un?"

"Tobi's not Itachi-san! Tobi's Tobi! Itachi-san's right there!" The fake Itachi pointed excitedly at another Itachi, who was standing solidly with Kisame on one of the mountains nearby.

"We're just helping Tobi out in his 'hide-and-seek' game, Deidara-kun!" Kisame laughed out aloud, "No hard feelings!"

Deidara snorted, "I should have known. You stalled me so that Tobi can tackle me from behind. What a cheap trick, un."

"That's right, Deidara-sempai!" The cheerful Itachi transformed into an orange-masked boy, "And Tobi was very convincing as Itachi-san, right, Deidara-sempai?"

_Dancing Itachi is convincing, un?_ Deidara's face turned beetroot red like a furious dragon, but his murderous thoughts were cut in directly by Itachi's deep voice.

"We'll see you in the headquarters, Deidara-kun. Sayonara. (Goodbye)"

Itachi and Kisame then disappeared into thin air, as though they had never been there before. Unsure of what to do with Eva (for she was not a Jinchuuriki, according to Itachi), Deidara carried her in his arms and opted to bring the 'sleeping beauty' anyway into the Akatsuki hideout.

O O O

Gaara and Ken were strolling near the vast playground in the Sand Village, with both of them lost in their own thoughts. On their way to their destination, villagers from all the walks of life and all the reaches of town greeted Gaara with deep respect. Looking at the grateful, ever-lasting smiles on their happy faces, Gaara wanted to smile back at them. However, he could not make his lips curl downward, no matter how hard he tried. He then decided to let the matter rest, because after all, he knew that he was actually smiling at them in his heart.

"You don't know how much I envy you, Kazekage-sama," Ken spoke, breaking the awkward silence between them, "I read the news about you saving the whole village from the big explosion, and I think you did great as the Kazekage."

Garra's mysterious green eyes, which had thick, prominent black rings circling them, stared at Ken's smiling face. He noticed that people had begun to see him in a very different light, once he had become someone as important as the Kazekage. The hot, dry wind caressed his red hair soothingly. The blood red scar of tragedy, 'Love' was vividly marked on the left portion of his forehead.

"Anybody from this village would have done the same," Gaara spoke hoarsely, before his eyes narrowed to a sand cottage in the middle of the desert road, "Maybe not anybody…"

The golden sand cottage, which was already old, abandoned and dingy, was still standing high among the sand houses. Ken and Gaara approached its open door with long, quick steps.

"Ken, an Akatsuki once lived in that house. We might find some answers about the Akatsuki there," Gaara spoke with a serious tone.

"He's the renowned puppet master, Sasori of The Red Sands. Am I right, Kazekage?" Ken said, as he took his first step into the estranged house.

Gaara nodded imperceptibly, without making a further sound. He let Ken observe the home, which once belonged to the great puppet artist, Sasori. All the furniture in the house still remained in their original positions untouched, though they were now almost fully covered by dust and cobwebs. In Sasori's bedroom, Ken's curious eyes laid upon a dusty photo frame on a wooden table. Gently, he picked it up and wiped the looking glass with the back of his hand.

The old photo showed a happy family: a smiling couple and a little baby sleeping soundly in his mother's arms.

"Sasori's parents died when he was young," Gaara told Ken, as though Ken ought to know this piece of information.

Drenched with waves of sympathy and compassion, Ken put back the precious photo to the place where it truly belonged. He had spoken Gaara's line before.

_Eva's parents died when she was young…_

* * *

End of Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6:Revival

Chapter 6-Revival

Ken stared hard at the wooden puppets that lined uniformly next to the murky wall. Some of them were beautiful to admire at, but only to realise later that they were left unfinished. One male puppet had no arms, yet its eyes were carved in a way that they almost resembled the dazzling black eyes owned by the maroon-haired man in the family photo. The only difference was that the puppet remained stiff, lifeless and armless.

Ken spoke, almost lamenting, "That 'Sasori' guy must have missed his father so much to make such a puppet."

"Ken, tell me," Gaara uttered, his already-rough voice coarsening even more, "Is Eva-chan a 'Jinchuuriki'? Akatsuki has only targeted 'Jinchuuriki', as far as I'm concerned."

Ken glanced swiftly at Gaara's bright green eyes and looked away guiltily, "No, Kazekage-sama. Akatsuki had taken the wrong person. I am who they wanted; I am a 'Jinchuuriki'."

O O O

_I am a monster, not you, Gaara…_

"He's a monster!" Ken remembered him saying those cruel, stabbing words about the honourable Kazekage to Eva, "Don't go near him! He'll kill you!"

"No, he's not a monster!" Eva argued back, as she slapped Ken's burly hand away, "You're just jealous Gaara got super powers, and you have none, you green-eyed monster!"

Ken's mouth went agape, "What…did you…just call me, Eva?"

"You're the freaking monster, Ken! I hate you!" Eva cried out, before she stormed out from the sandy playground, her sky-blue scarf flowing vigorously around her neck.

Watching Eva leaving him all alone with Gaara, Ken was lost for words. His mind went blank in a perplexed state, unable to express his emotions properly. He just did not know whether to laugh or cry; laugh because Eva called him a 'monster', and cry because Eva seemed to fancy Gaara more than him. Struggling to hold back his tears, Ken decided to apologize anyway to Eva at her mansion.

"Eva! I'm sorry, okay?" Ken shouted his lungs out towards Eva's balcony, "Eva! Please come out!"

Ken received no answer. His heart was crushed instantly, suspecting that Eva was too angry to speak to him. When he was ready to leave, he heard the front door click. His gloomy face was filled with bundles of hopefulness, but what he saw was not exactly what he had expected to see.

"Dad!" Ken said with his eyes went bewildered, "What are you doing here?"

"Come in, my son," The tall, scraggy man answered softly, "There's something I want to tell you."

In the luxurious living room, Ken sat on the cushioned settee, facing his father and two other adults, Eva's parents. Unlike her cheerful demeanour, Eva's mother had traces of tears on her honeyed face, as though she had cried a river. Whereas, Mister Black (Eva's father) was looking at Ken in the eye, prompting the Adam's apple in Ken's throat to bob up and down restlessly.

Ken's father was the first one to speak, "Ken, do you know what a 'Jinchuuriki' is?"

Gaara's crying face suddenly crossed Ken's mind, "I know, Dad. 'Jinchuuriki' is something like that Kazekage's son, am I right?"

"Good, Ken. You understand…" Ken's father paused dramatically, "Unfortunately, Eva is a 'Jinchuuriki'."

"Are you serious, Dad?" Ken guffawed, "She can't be a 'Jinchewkiki', or whatever that _thing_ is!"

Mrs. Black abruptly burst into tears, causing Ken's series of laughter to cease. Mister Black wrapped his wife's shoulder with his large arms. His eyes were as emerald as Eva's, except that they looked strangely stern and determined.

"Whether you like it or not, our Eva is a 'Jinchuuriki'," Mr. Black ignored Ken's shell-shocked eyes and added gravely, "But she won't be a 'Jinchuuriki' for long."

Ken's father nodded sadly, "Ken, you may not know this, but Eva's father and I had been working on a 'jutsu' to extract the 'demon spirit' from its host, without actually harming the host. We are thinking of performing this 'jutsu' on Eva."

Ken smiled with relief, but his heart was telling him that something terribly wrong was going to happen. The sound of Eva's mother weeping had confirmed his worst fears.

"There is a catch, isn't it?" Ken breathed out nervously.

Eva's father replied, his emerald eyes burning with an intense green flame,

"For the 'jutsu' to work, we need two humans as sacrifice and a 'vessel' to store the 'demon spirit'. My wife and I would be the sacrifice. As for the 'vessel', if you are willing, Ken…I'll be forever in your debt."

Ken's throat was clogged, his broad forehead was producing cold sweat and his hazel eyes were twitching madly. _If I were to become the vessel, would I be a 'monster', just like Gaara?_ Ken clutched at his heart with his shaky hand.

_Are you going to like me if I become a 'Jinchuuriki', Eva?_

O O O

Eva was stirring restlessly on Deidara's bed. Her eyes, though closed, were holding back tears that threatened to drip out onto the surface. Disturbing images of her parents' coffins lying on the burial ground were playing in front of her eyes to no end. She never knew how they died. When she asked Ken about her parents, he kept beating about the bush. The closest answer she ever got was that they had met with an inevitable 'car accident', but she knew that it was all a cock and bull story.

"_Ken, how could you lie to me? I trusted you so much…"_

"Who's Ken, Deidara-sempai?" A child-like, innocent voice beat on Eva's eardrums.

Another familiar voice replied in annoyance, "How should I know? Why don't you ask her, un?"

Tobi leaned closer to Eva's ear and whispered, "Hey, pretty lady. Deidara-sempai asked Tobi to ask you who Ken is."

Deidara snorted, "She won't hear you, Tobi. She's still sleeping like a log, un."

"Tell that Mister Constipated…that whoever Ken is…is none of his business."

Eva had spoken with difficulty, while her head was still struggling to erase all those painful memories that ought to be forgotten. She slowly rose up from the damp bed and opened her eyes tiredly to see the two dark figures standing side by side before her. Deidara smirked with morbid delight, his purple-and-creepy-nailed fingers caressing his chin.

"I see… does this 'Ken' have a red mole on his cheek, un?" Deidara smiled wickedly.

Eva stared blankly at Deidara, before asking suspiciously, "What does Ken's red mole have anything to do with you?"

Tobi scratched his non-itchy dark hair and said, "Deidara-sempai, why is she calling you Mister Constipated? Are you constipated, Sempai?"

Deidara gave a glacier glare at Tobi, who was oblivious of the 'damage' he had caused. Tobi thoughtfully added, "No wonder Deidara-sempai always say 'un' at the end of each sentence…"

Deidara's shadowed eyes turned fiery, the mouth on his right hand spitting an explosive clay bird. His sharp teeth gritted menacingly, "Tobi, want to play another game, un? It's called 'Bomberman'."

"Aaaaahhhh!" Tobi screamed at the top of his voice. He jumped onto Deidara's empty bed and hid behind Eva, who felt totally awkward standing in the middle of the two Akatsuki members.

"Get out of my way, wretch!"

Deidara growled fiercely at Eva, the bomb in his hand aiming for his frightened junior. Out of desperation, Tobi pushed Eva forward towards Deidara on purpose, before making his escape with a 'teleportation jutsu'. Not knowing what had happened, Eva fell and rammed into Deidara. Her eyes squinted in an effort to lessen the pain that would definitely come from the fall.

As soon as Eva opened her eyes, she could not believe what she saw. Her eyes were looking straight at Deidara's (he had taken off his camera), with her lips planted on his. His lips were cold but tender. Deidara looked equally stunned, and he could feel that Eva's heart was throbbing excitedly.

"_Deidara!"_ Pein's voice stung rudely in Deidara's shocked brain, _"Come for meeting now!"_

The interruption quickly brought Deidara back to reality; he hastily pushed Eva away from him and gave her a dead-eyed stare.

"That's disgusting, un!" Deidara spat, as he wiped his wet lips with the back of his hand. He then walked away hurriedly, as though his bedroom had just been cursed with a distasteful jinx. Eva's heart was still pounding rapidly. With apprehension, her delicate fingers poked her pink rosy lips.

"_It's only an accidental kiss," her inner voice spoke, "and you already have a boyfriend, so don't think much about it."_

Eva sighed regretfully, her eyes staring miserably at the small piece of art, Deidara's signature clay bird, lying on the floor.

O O O

The night at the Village Hidden in The Sand was dotted beautifully with twinkling stars. As Gaara was leaving Sasori's house, he turned to watch Ken examining Sasori's ancient puppets. The eyes of the Kazekage were glowing under the pale moonlight from the hauntingly-bright moon, which had witnessed his life-threatening battle with the intrepid S-ranked criminal, Deidara of the Akatsuki. Gaara was not sure himself whether he could rescue Eva from the Akatsuki, but he could not possibly have wanted to make an empty promise to his new 'Jinchuuriki' friend, Ken.

"Are you sure you're going to stay here for a while alone?" Gaara said with an unusually-concerned voice.

Ken smiled, "Don't worry about me, Kazekage-sama. I'll just have another look at the puppets. I'll go home after I've finished."

"Be safe, Ken," Gaara said curtly, before leaving for his office.

Ken's fake smile faded from his face. His hand rummaged through his pocket to find a black scroll signed by his late father, who had recently succumbed to a heart-attack. His father's last words of wisdom were swirling loudly in his mind,

"I entrust my ultimate jutsu to you. This jutsu enables you to transform into a person that had already departed from this living world. In other words, you can become that 'dead person'. You might be able to act according to your own will power, though you might also possess new powers from the deceased. But remember, Ken, once you use this jutsu on yourself, you can't revert to your true form."

"_I'll do whatever it takes to save you, Eva,"_ Ken thought, his depressed face turning to the reflection on the wall mirror.

Ken opened the large scroll, performed some hand-signs and chanted a few inaudible words. In a matter of seconds, his black hair turned maroon, before his large hazel eyes shrank to half-closed, dark maroon eyes. The natural brownish eyebrows above his dreamy eyes darkened and thickened, followed by the darkening of his eyelashes. A circular hollow ring formed around his neck as a finishing touch.

The man took off his shirt and flexed his wooden muscles slowly. Giving a satisfied smile to himself, he lifted his face high, admiring his puppet-body on the shiny mirror. The same 'Sasori (Scorpion)' talisman was etched ominously on his left chest.

"Who says art doesn't live forever, Deidara?"

* * *

End of Chapter 6


	7. Chapter 7:Perfect Denial

**This chapter has more dialogues than the rest. Anyway, here's Chapter 7!**

* * *

Chapter 7- Perfect Denial

Deidara was racing to the giant statue resembling a marvellous humanoid monster. After inserting his mini-camera onto his eye properly, he leaped and landed on top of the index finger of the statue's right hand, adding to the total amount of eight Akatsuki members assembling. Each Akatsuki was standing vigilantly on his or her own 'finger'. Among the notorious group, one of them had concentric circles in his saffron orange eyes, which seemed to glow even without the presence of light. These eyes scanned each and everyone in the dark, mundane room, before stopping at the pony-tailed man.

"Where is Tobi, Deidara?" The man's raspy voice echoed throughout the chamber. Every head turned to the direction of the left thumb, which was occupied by none.

Deidara shrugged, "I have no idea, Leader-sama. He must be somewhere in this country, un."

"Oh really?" The leader spoke sternly, his orange eyes turned fiery and grim, "Then how about the 'Jinchuuriki' you promised us? Care to explain, Deidara?"

Deidara's azure eyes pierced through the total darkness towards the tall man standing a finger away from him, as he seethed, "It's not my fault, Leader-sama. Itachi gave me the wrong information on the 'Jinchuuriki'."

Itachi said coldly, "My information was accurate, but you misinterpreted it, Deidara-kun."

"You didn't tell me that 'Jinchuuriki' is a boy, baka!" Deidara barked, his golden ponytail shaking with much anger and despise.

Itachi did not answer, but his intense red eyes were staring nonchalantly at Deidara's bubblegum-pink-stained lips. Itachi's inside smiled in jest, even though the face that he portrayed remained cold and uninterested. Within a blink of an eye, Kisame burst into a hearty laughter, as though he could read his silent partner's mind.

"Kisame, am I missing something?" The Akatsuki leader, Pein raised his thick eyebrows.

Kisame inhaled deeply to fill his lungs with oxygen, before speaking dismissively, "Nothing important, really…"

"Leader-sama," Zetsu's deep voice entered the conversation, "Deidara is apparently hiding a girl in his bedroom."

Kisame roared out laughing hysterically at Zetsu's report, his hand pressing hard on his stomach. Deidara's face changed, but he forced out one of his confident smirks, "Only for temporary. I intend to keep her as an inspiration for my Art, un."

"Inspiration?" Hidan's silvery-white hair gleamed in the dark, "What the hell is that, Deidara-chan? Just let me sacrifice her, for Lord Jashin's sake!"

Hidan's partner, Kakuzu sighed, "You're predictable, Hidan. I suggest that we sell this girl to a brothel. She'll fetch a pretty good price for us."

"Forget it, Kakuzu-san," Deidara debated, "She is quite a pleasure to look at. No way I'm selling her to a bunch of perverts, un."

"If you like this girl, just admit it," Konan, who was positioned on the right middle finger, said curtly to Deidara, "Don't give pathetic, lame excuses."

"Oh my, I'm not fit to like somebody," Deidara sniggered sarcastically, "After all, I'm an Akatsuki, un."

Loud and distinct, Pein announced, "I don't know what you are up to, Deidara, but let me warn you; having an outsider in our hideout is a serious offence. That girl could be an Orochimaru's spy, as we know it. Zetsu!"

Zetsu stood upright, "Yes, Leader-sama?"

"Dispose the girl," Pein said with unarguable authority.

Deidara opened his mouth, but no words came out to object to Pein's decision. From the looks of it, Deidara knew that nothing he could say or do to change the fate of the girl he hardly knew. He did not know what it was, but something deep inside him wanted to stop Zetsu from eating the girl, whose name was still unknown to him. Oddly enough, the seemingly-insulting nicknames, 'Jerk-face' and 'Mr.Constipated' felt so affectionate to him. He really meant it when he said that she was quite a pleasure to look at. She was so beautiful that it would be a waste if he were to blow her up, just like how he had done to everyone else. Though Deidara hated to admit it, the girl that he had captured by mistake was a 'gorgeous porcelain doll'.

"_Deidara, since when you become so soft, un?"_ Deidara thought quietly to himself, his long yellow lock falling neatly away from his morose face, as he looked down at the darkness of loneliness below him.

"Fine, Leader-sama," Deidara spoke coyly, "You win, un."

Zetsu was going to perform his hand-signs, when a loud, mocking voice interrupted him.

"I apologize for being late, Leader-sama. No one ought to wait for so long, especially someone esteemed like you."

A hazy hologram had appeared on the left thumb without anyone noticing. His familiar, unnaturally-young face sent shudder to everyone in the room. He was clad in a plain dark cloak, which ran down to his purple-polished toenails.

"Danna!" Deidara's eyes widened with pure shock, "You're supposed to be dead!"

The maroon-haired man slanted his head slightly, his coal-black eyes looking as drowsy as ever. He snapped, "Do you want me to die so much, Deidara? So what happened to the 'kyuubi(nine-tailed demon fox) boy'? Did you catch him?"

"Danna, you're supposed to be dead and don't ask this type of questions, un," Deidara smirked playfully, trying to avoid explaining how he had failed to capture Naruto.

Zetsu mused, "But Sasori, when I visited your corpse, you were already dead."

"Unless that corpse is not Sasori…" Another Zetsu's voice, which was deeper than the last one, trailed off.

"Somebody brought me back to life," Sasori explained briefly.

"Who the hell is that 'somebody'?" Hidan asked curiously.

"Someone you don't know. That means it's no use telling you about him, newcomer," Sasori said with a tone of irritation. He rubbed his forehead tiredly, his dull red hair touching his puppet hand in a messy way. Someone had been shouting at him from the back of his mind, but he did not know who that 'kid' was. "_He must be the one who resurrected me…" his heart thought. _

"Heh! You don't die, but you surely look old, Sasori-danna," Deidara joked, causing Sasori to glare intensely at him.

Pein, who had been watching silently, said calmly, "I assume you have taken the ring from Tobi, Sasori?"

"I must take whatever that belongs to me," Sasori smiled evilly, showing off his metallic ring on his left thumb, "That masked idiot resisted me and I took him out, basically."

"Danna, you killed Tobi just for that stupid ring, un?" Deidara breathed out grudgingly.

Sasori laughed, "What if I killed him, Deidara? When I was killed by that 'pink-haired brat', I don't think you complained. To you, my death cemented your point that art is transient. Sorry to disappoint you, Deidara. I still don't think so. Art is eternal, and that's the way it is. "

"You're wrong, Danna! Art is a fleet-"

"Shut up, both of you!" Pein growled, "I had enough with your endless argument. Sasori, since you're here, what do you propose about this girl in Deidara's bedroom?"

"This girl in Deidara's bedroom?" Sasori's thick eyebrows climbed up his large eyes, "That's something unusual. Deidara, are you up to something _bad_?"

"My affairs are not for you to meddle, un," Deidara said spitefully.

Sasori replied, "Don't get too cocky with me, Deidara. I might as well turn you into my 299th human puppet, and your silly little girlfriend as my 300th."

Pein spoke solemnly, "That settles it. Sasori, do whatever you want with that girl, as long as she is get rid of. Dismiss!"

The leader disappeared instantly, followed by his partner, Konan and the other S-ranked criminals. Deidara only managed to frown, unsatisfied with what Pein had ordered Sasori to do. Letting Sasori get his own way with Eva was the last straw for Deidara; it felt to him as though Pein had called his art a 'terrible form of self-expression' but acknowledged Sasori's art as 'the most artistic masterpiece in the universe'. The only Akatsuki left in the awful darkness (besides Deidara) sniggered with utmost pleasure,

"I guess I'll take that girl as my 299th, then."

Deidara said, "I like you better when you're dead, Sasori-danna."

"Tch! I never liked you in the slightest."

O O O

Sasori's eyes opened immediately, after saying those final words to his former partner, Deidara. He was sitting on a wooden bench with his legs crossed and his hands holding out together in the form of a hand-sign. His sleepy-looking eyes gazed at the twinkling stars above him. _"Save Eva!"_ These two nonsensical words became clearer in his mind, but it just added more pain to his already-painful migraine.

Sasori was massaging his stabbing forehead, when a cheerful voice came into the picture, "Sasori-san!"

Still in annoying pain, Sasori looked up dazedly at Tobi, who had an ice-cream cone in his gloved hand.

Tobi exclaimed excitedly, "Tobi had lots and lots of fun in the roller-coaster! This theme park is so awesome, Sasori-san!"

Smirking faintly, Sasori took the 'Virgin' ring off his left thumb and threw it at Tobi, who 'amazingly' caught it with huge success.

Sasori uttered casually, "I saw you drop it on the way to the roller-coaster."

"Thank you, Sasori-san! You're so different compared to Deidara-sempai!"

Sasori grunted, yet a strange feeling manifested in his troubled chest. He had never said it, but Deidara was definitely a better and more-worthy partner than that traitorous snake-man, Orochimaru.

* * *

End of Chapter 7

**I think I still have one or two more chapters to go. By the way, do you like this chapter? Please give me your reviews! Till we meet again, so long!**


	8. Chapter 8:A Knight in Shining Armour

Chapter 8-A Knight in Shining Armour

Eva was resting her chin on her hand, her beautiful emerald eyes studying the 'porcelain doll' on Deidara's art table. The doll reminded her much of a large snowman screaming his lungs out under the scorching hot sun. Smiling warmly more to herself than to the 'funny' snowman, she picked it up and poked it in the mouth gently. A good feeling settled at the depths of her heart; she recalled how ecstatic she was when she received her first doll from her doting parents.

Eva named that doll 'Cinderella', because like any other girl, she wished that one day, a 'knight in shining armour' would come to ask for her hand. She wanted to have a 'fairy tale ending' with her 'true love'. But that does not mean anything, if she did not have her parents to share her happiness…

As Eva patted the porcelain doll on the head, she muttered sorrowfully," How I wished I could see Mommy and Daddy again…"

"My C3 bombs don't talk, un."

Eva's heart jolted. She threw the doll away and hastily drew back from the table she was sitting at. She shouted anxiously at Deidara, "That _thing_ is a bomb? Are you trying to blow me up, jerk-face?"

Standing at the dark corner of the room, Deidara smirked naughtily, "If I really want to blow you up, I would have done that long time ago before you were even born, un."

Deidara grabbed his explosive snowman-doll from the solid floor. After brushing the dust off its plain white body, he placed his clay doll carefully on the wooden cupboard.

"So you like my art, un?" Deidara asked, his face beaming at Eva with much enthusiasm.

Eva said with a sarcastic tone, "I like art, but I hate bombs."

"Oh?" Deidara's eyes went dilated, as if he was surprised, "What kind of art you like, un?"

"Hmmm, let me think first…" Eva rubbed her chin thoughtfully, before bursting out in purple rage, "Hey! I'm supposed to be the one asking questions here! Why did you kidnap me? If it's for money, we can negotiate, but don't ever think that my boyfriend will let you go so easily!"

Deidara snorted, "If I want money, I'll rob a bank, baka. Speaking about your 'boyfriend', is there a red mole on his right cheek, un?"

"_Does Ken have a red mole on his right cheek? I'm not too sure about that. I never took notice," _Eva pondered hard.

Eva had known Ken for more than half her life, but somehow, she had never bothered to take in his facial features. Needless to say, Ken was the most adorable boy in the school. He was also a 'nice' boyfriend, who would be there for Eva whenever she needed him. Day after day, their bond fostered from a childhood-friend-relationship to a perfect couple. "_Perfect couple?" Eva bit her bottom lip, "Maybe not…"_

After some time, Eva spoke mindlessly, as though she had failed to answer a basic question in an important exam, "I don't know."

"You're pissing me off with that lie of yours, un," Deidara's voice deepened.

Eva shouted, "I'm not lying! I seriously don't know! I'm not his mother, for crying out loud!"

Feeling like a defeated man, Eva thumped onto the ground with a dull thud. She put her face in her hands, for she did not want to show that she was on the verge of tears. Deidara looked at her with soulful eyes and strange fondness in his heart. He unzipped his Akatsuki coat and took it off, before putting it over Eva's shoulders. Eva stared up at him tearfully.

"I'll blow you up if you don't stop crying, un," Deidara warned with a touch of sympathy, as he crouched near Eva.

Eva could not help but to smile a little, "Thanks, Deidara."

"I never thought you remember my name, un," Deidara gave a bewildered smile.

"I don't know why, but your name… sort of stuck in my head..."

Without any hesitation, Deidara leaned closer to Eva and pressed his lips against hers. Eva was shocked and paralysed to the ground, not knowing what to do, but to watch Deidara enveloping her in a tight embrace. His fingers were playing with her long, silky hair, as he continued kissing her passionately. Like the first kiss, Eva's heart was beating excitedly.

But this time, it was not accidental…

"Deidara-sempai! I'm home, sem…Oh-my-god!"

Deidara immediately pulled away from Eva, who looked red-hot from embarrassment. With a frustrated face, Deidara turned to Tobi and barked loudly,

"What did I tell you about knocking the door, un?"

Tobi stammered, "B-b-but sempai, the door was already open. Right, Sasori-san?"

Tobi looked around for any signs of Sasori, but he was not there. Scratching his non-itchy head, Tobi murmured, "Sasori-san was here just now…"

"Wait a minute, Tobi," Deidara spoke gravely, "Haven't you been killed by Sasori-danna?"

Tobi smiled from ear to ear, "Of course not! Sasori-san brought me to the theme park, while you and the pretty lady…were…uhh…"

"We were 'what', un?" Deidara's blue eyes turned bloodshot red.

O O O

Panting heavily, Sasori slammed the door behind him. He dragged his shaky feet to the sink and turned on the water tap with a trembling hand. Feeling terribly warm, he poured the water upon his face, but it did not work; his face and his whole body was burning with a hungry desire to kill someone or even himself. More specifically, he wanted to kill Deidara, but he did not know why.

He just wanted to kill Deidara. That murderous thought just came when he saw Deidara and his 'silly little girlfriend'' were relishing themselves in a kiss. "_What's the big deal about that?"_

Sasori took a look at the bathroom mirror in front of him. His black pupils, however round they may be, were shrinking and glowing madly in red. He saw a pair of cat ears sprouting on his head, not excluding the flaming tails that he got. _"Is a Jinchuuriki taking over me?" he grimaced in pain, feeling as though his wooden skin was peeling off. _

"Sasori-san! Come out!" Kisame's voice boomed from the other side of the door.

"Scram!" Sasori roared.

Kisame laughed derisively, "Are you really Sasori-san? You sound more like a 'Jinchuuriki'."

"I said 'Scram'!" Sasori roared, this time more thunderous than before. _Piang!_ The mirror on the wall shattered into a million pieces. A few glass shards cut Sasori on his face, but he felt no pain. He felt nothing at all(for he was a puppet). He smacked the sink with his fist, pretending that what he had destroyed was Deidara.

"Sasori-san," Itachi stepped forward towards the door, "We know who you are. Get out."

"Never!"

"Itachi-san?" Kisame asked.

As if responding to Kisame's question, Itachi made a hand-sign and muttered, "Amaterasu."

Suddenly, the door was engulfed in black flames and turned to ashes. Itachi and Kisame moved forward through the gap, their menacing steps echoing in the cubicle. Stirring with unfathomable anger, Sasori held to his cloak and tossed it away. He flew towards Itachi headfirst, the long sharp blades at his behind aiming straight at the unmoving figure.

"Without your puppets…" As fast as a lightning, Itachi kicked Sasori in the talisman on his burning chest, "You are just a puppet, and I am your master, Sasori-san."

Sasori hit the solid wall hard, his mouth spitting a gob of fresh blood. With his back against the wall, he stared at Itachi, unfazed, but his cracked lips were mouthing painfully, "Tell Eva…I love her..."

Unable to sustain his pain any longer, Sasori closed his eyes and everything went black…


	9. Chapter 9:Three Ninjas

**Chapter 9 is here! I am very excited to know how the story will end. (I tend to have a habit of changing the plots that I have planned earlier during the process of writing the story) X)**

**Anyway, happy reading!**

* * *

Chapter 9: Three Ninjas

The glowing moonlight pierced through the clouds in the sombre night. Eva was gazing up at the lonely moon, her conical straw hat shaking faintly and silently. Deidara had promised her that he was bringing her home. The gigantic clay bird she was sitting was the ultimate proof of Deidara's promise. But something did not seem right…

"_Why did he let me go?" Her head went drooping with a poignant expression on her face, "On top of that, why do I have to feel so sad about going home? Isn't this what I wanted?"_

"Why such a long face?" Deidara's sharp voice shattered Eva's never-ending train of painful thoughts, "I'm bringing you back to where you came from. Good riddance, un."

Eva gave a jabbing stare at Deidara, whose face was covered by slits of white cloth with small spike-like bells hanging from them. He was sitting relaxingly near the bird's tail, his long legs spread forward towards Eva. A gust of wind blew off Deidara's hat, showing off a twisted smirk on the young man's face, his ridiculously-high golden pony-tail waving in the calming breeze.

"Yeah, show me that anger," Deidara smiled triumphantly, "Baka."

"Would you stop calling me 'Baka'? I have a name, and it's 'Eva'!" Eva's shouting voice cracked.

"I don't care about your name, baka," An ironical smile plastered on his face, "You're going home anyway, so why bother, un?"

Deidara struggled to keep his eyes fixed upon Eva's, but the sight of her holding back her tears was killing him inside. If not for the fact that Eva was going to be converted by Sasori into a mindless human puppet, he would not have let her go. His heart was telling him to confess his feelings to the girl he had begun to like. Maybe his love for her was enough to exceed the unconditional love he always had for his art.

"_Oh my, I'm not fit to like somebody,"_ Deidara closed his eyes to recall what he had previously said in front of the whole Akatsuki organisation, _"After all, I'm an Akatsuki, un."_

"Then what about the kiss?" Eva said demandingly.

Deidara's shadowed blue eyes widened for a while, before averting away from Eva's large tearful eyes. He smirked, "Who can resist kissing a gorgeous girl like you? As a matter of fact, kissing is a universal form of art. I was merely experimenting it on you, un."

_Piak!_ Eva gave a tight slap across Deidara's face. Tears were streaming down her cheeks profusely. Her head was hanging so low that the hat she was wearing slipped off gently from her inky black hair. Deidara, with his hand cupping his hot cheek, looked at the crying girl with an expression as fierce as a hungry dragon.

"Is that the best you can do, hah?" Deidara shouted like a lunatic, his hand grabbing Eva's wrist forcefully, "That's like an ant sting, un! Hit me like I'm a dog!"

"You're sick!" Eva snarled.

"I'll show you how sick I can be, un," Deidara pulled Eva to the edge of the huge bird, forcing her to look down breathlessly, "I'll stuff you with my clay, throw you headfirst from here and you'll see how beautiful my art is!"

Eva mocked in a voice less than a whisper, "You're sicker than I thought."

Instantly, the porcelain bird came to an abrupt stop, causing it to jerk forward. Eva's sweaty arm slipped off from Deidara's hand. Her frightened eyes caught a brief contact with Deidara's, before she fell helplessly down to the earth below. Deidara held out his hand, but it was too late.

"Eva!" Deidara commenced his bird to plunge downward, but it did not make any slightest move. Bemused and agitated, his golden head turned to see a thick string of sand that had wrapped itself around the clay bird's tail and held it tight.

Gaara was standing stoically a short distance behind him. His bright greenish-blue eyes were much more determined than the last time Deidara saw him…

O O O

"Incoming!"

A group of identical boys shouted at the same time, their blonde hair brightening the dark atmosphere in the vast green field. They jumped simultaneously and caught the falling girl without much effort. Eva opened her eyes slowly to see triplets beaming at her with smiles of relief. They all have the same spiky yellow hair, the same black-and-orange outfits and the same whiskers on their friendly faces.

"I caught her, Kakashi-sensei!" One of them shouted proudly.

Another similar voice spoke indignantly, "Hey! I caught her first!"

"What about me? What about me?" The third one fumed, "I caught her with my eyes closed, believe it!"

"If you caught her with your eyes closed, what if you missed her, dimwit?"

"If I'm a dimwit, then you're a dimwit too, because you're me!"

The three ninjas dropped Eva onto the ground in a rough manner, before indulging themselves in a physical brawl. They exchanged punches with each other, ignoring the confused look on Eva's pale-as-a-ghost face. It was as if the three triplets were one similar person.

"Hello," A warm voice cheered from nowhere, "You're not hurt, are you?"

A tall ninja suddenly appeared in front of Eva as though it was done by magic. He helpfully lifted Eva up from the green grass, while she noticed the black mask, which covered the man's face up to his left eye. Eva opened her mouth to reply a 'hello' and to give him her heart-felt thanks, but no sound came out.

"I'm Kakashi, and this is Pakkun," Kakashi said, smiling, as he pointed his finger at the tiny, bored-looking dog on his shoulder. "And the one who saved you is...Naruto,"he sighed regretfully.

"Your name is Eva, correct?" Pakkun spoke, prompting Eva to stare at him with pure disbelief. Pakkun added with a bored voice, "I won't bite you…no pressure."

"We're a rescue team from the Village Hidden in The Leaves and also The Sand," Kakashi explained, "Fortunately, we came just in time. You nearly got killed by that Akatsuki, so Naruto got impatient to save you."

"_I don't think Deidara wanted to kill me. He was just pissed off that I slapped him…" _Eva thought with a guilty heart.

"You should rest now, Eva. In the meantime, we let Gaara-sama take care of that Akatsuki," Kakashi concluded with a confident smile.

_Eva pursed her dry lips, "Gaara? It really rings a bell. Where did I hear that name?"_

O O O

Deidara's jaw dropped. His eyes went unusually large, as he made a thorough scan on the impassive boy with his mini camera. Gaara, who was not intimidated at the very least, was looking stern in Deidara's direction with his arms neatly folded on his chests. A huge sand gourd on Gaara's back, though slightly cracked, seemed to hold power beyond anyone's imagination. His striking red hair was blown by the restless wind, as the bloody scar stamped on his forehead revealed itself once again.

"You got to be kidding me, un," Deidara frowned, "Weren't you already dead, 'One-tail'?"

Gaara remained silent, giving a reason for Deidara to joke coldly, "Oh yeah. I forgot that you're mute."

"Where's Ken?" Gaara spoke hoarsely; his monstrous sand remained clung at Deidara's porcelain bird.

Deidara smirked with a strange delight, "If you care so much about Ken, he must be a 'Jinchuuriki' too. You 'Jinchuurikis' really strive to save each other, eh? Too bad you all suffer the same fate; die in my hands, un."

"I'm not dead yet!"

_Smack! _Deidara's clay bird was crushed in an instant by Gaara's sand, but Deidara had already jumped onto another bird, this time an enormous, white owl. Baring his teeth furiously, he let the mouths on his hands chomp on the explosive clay in his bags. Before Deidara could get his 'pay-back-time', an annoying ring screeched in his entangled mind.

"_Deidara, assemble! Itachi had caught another 'Jinchuuriki'."_

Deidara shouted in contempt, "Leader-sama, you're irritating, you heard that, un?"

"_I heard that, Deidara," Pein spoke with an assertive voice, "Assemble now!"_

"All right," Deidara sulked, before turning to Gaara with an evil smirk, "I'll deal with you later, un."

Deidara's porcelain owl flew towards the rocky mountains in full speed. Naruto sprinted past Gaara, his loud voice echoing throughout the misty field.

"Get back here!" Naruto screamed, "You'll pay for what you've done to Gaara!"

"Naruto!" Kakashi, who was chasing after Naruto, sighed, "Here we go again…'

Eva looked aimlessly at the two ninjas disappearing into the awful darkness. Walking with soft footsteps, Gaara went to greet Eva with an emotionless face and important words that were left unspoken. He had wanted to ask whether she still remembered him as the isolated boy, whom everyone labelled as a 'monster'. Eva was waiting for Gaara to speak, but his lips remained shut.

"Your sand is as cool as always, Gaara," Eva smiled sweetly, "Thanks for saving me."

A soft glow comforted Gaara's heart. He replied with a nod, "Thank you for the ice-cream."

* * *

End of Chapter 9


	10. Chapter 10:Chamber of Death

Chapter 10-Chamber of Death

Sasori's puppet body was sprawling motionlessly on the cold ground. Seven pairs of eyes were staring down at him; all of them had the same morbid eagerness to seal the demon fox into the great statue. No one had the humane desire to spare the life of their comrade, for sacrifices must be made to achieve their goal. The only female member in the criminal organisation, Konan, looked sideways at her partner and also her childhood friend.

"Pein," Konan's voice pierced through the sinister silence, "Must we wait for Deidara and Tobi?"

"Yes, we must," Pein answered, "Without them, the sealing of the beast would not be effective."

Kisame enquired, "It really makes me wonder...How can Sasori-san be a 'Jinchuuriki' now, but not when he first came into the Akatsuki?"

"Who knows, Kisame?" Itachi answered with his eyes closed thoughtfully, "But he did say that someone brought him back to life."

Kakuzu grunted, "What's the use of being alive if he's dead in the end?"

"To live is to die, I suppose," Hidan smirked proudly, "Except me, obviously."

"Speaking about 'obvious'…" Zetsu spoke deeply.

"Isn't it obvious that Deidara is somehow obsessed with that little girl? He got the nerve to take her away from here without our knowledge," The other Zetsu continued with a lighter, clearer voice.

"Hehehe…" Kisame laughed jestingly, "Must be the work of hormones that Deidara acted like that."

"Leader-sama," Zetsu spoke urgently, not hearing Kisame's joke, "Deidara is coming."

Pein uttered, his serious voice booming in the eerie air, "Everyone, focus-"

Another Zetsu interrupted, "But from my observation, four more people are approaching here. One of them is unmistakably the 'Kyuubi'."

"Aren't we lucky?" Hidan spoke with a twisted smile.

Pein did not smile. His voice grew louder, "We have to postpone the sealing to another day. Dismiss!"

After some whining among them, one by one, the astral images of the Akatsuki vanished into the inky darkness, all except Pein. He was in fact waiting for Deidara to turn up to give him a piece of his mind. The endless spirals in his dark saffron eyes were consumed with deep anger, as a large snow owl flew into the chamber of death. The owl rider jumped and landed exactly next to Sasori's unconscious body with his knees bent.

"You're late again, Deidara," Pein spoke with the voice of an angry god.

Deidara smirked deviously, "Sorry, Leader-sama. I was trying to display my art to some sand-ghost, un."

"Stop fooling around!" Pein fired up, "Do you have any idea that you're luring the pests here?"

"Yeah, but that's what I'm plotting to do, un," Deidara flashed a boyish grin full of evil thoughts, "Why seal one 'Jinchuuriki', if you can seal two at once?"

"Do not underestimate them, Deidara, especially that 'kyuubi' boy and that girl…" Pein paused momentarily, "Don't let her distract you."

Deidara's heart was sinking like a heavy weight, but he merely smiled, "Leader-sama, you're quite cranky today, un."

"You know what I meant, Deidara," Pein's eyes swirled maniacally, "As for the 'Jinchuuriki' on the floor, keep an eye on him. Make sure you don't screw up this time. When you're done, we'll start the sealing process immediately."

Without waiting for an answer from Deidara, Pein disappeared, not leaving any slightest trace of his existence behind. Deidara turned his head at the seemingly-dead 'Jinchuuriki' lying beside him. The familiar face of the man made his blood freeze.

"Danna?" Deidara called out, slightly gasping. The only thing that he needed to see was the red mole on Sasori's right cheek to confirm that Sasori was a 'Jinchuuriki', but the real mind-blogging question was...

_"Are you Sasori-danna or Ken, un?"_

O O O

Naruto was running like a mad man through the valley, his eyes spurred with dangerous determination and lust to kill. Following behind him was his mentor, Kakashi Hatake, who sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him. It became dreadful to Kakashi that the same scenario of him chasing after Naruto, who was in an irrational pursuit of Deidara, was happening to him once again.

"Calm down, Naruto!" Kakashi echoed, as he could feel his sweat drenching the back of his neck.

Running along the side of Kakashi, Pakkun took a short whiff with his nose, "Kakashi, I can smell it. We're getting closer to the Akatsuki."

"That's good," Kakashi spoke with a miserable voice.

Suddenly, Naruto stopped, forcing Kakashi and Pakkun to cease running as well. In front of them was a dark cave looming at the end of the great valley. Holding their kunai in their hands, Naruto and Kakashi cautiously entered into the cave with expectation that someone would ambush on them from the inside. To their dismay, the room inside the cave was actually small, as small as the size of two toilet cubicles combined together.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted with frustration written on his sweaty face, "I swear I saw that coward escaping through this cave! Believe it!"

Kakashi replied matter-of-factly, "This is an elevator, Naruto, so I believe that the Akatsuki had gone up."

Naruto cocked his head up; a hole with the shape of a door was evidently located somewhere above him about fifty feet high.

"No problem! I'm going up, Kakashi-sensei!" Channelling his chakra into the soles of his feet, he ran up the wall. Before he could make his fifth step, his feet slipped off from the dingy wall…

"Ouch!" Naruto fell onto the hard metallic ground with a loud, painful thud.

"This room is devoid of chakra," Kakashi explained, "In other words, using chakra to go up the wall to our destination is a very bad idea."

Wincing in pain, Naruto rubbed the huge bump on his head with both hands. He grimaced, "You could have told me sooner, Kakashi-sensei! My head hurts like hell, dattebayo! (you know!)"

Kakashi smiled with embarrassment, his fingers scratching his greyish-silver hair, "Sorry, I forgot."

"Look there, Kakashi," Pakkun jerked his paw at the cute button on the wall, "Maybe the trick is to push that button, but it looks suspicious to me."

Naruto shouted, "Argghhh! We have no time to lose, dattebayo!" He was more than ready to lay his finger on the harmless-looking button, when a female voice cried out, "No! Don't press the button!"

Too late. The cave closed itself, trapping Naruto, Kakashi and Pakkun in the room. Gaara, who had arrived at the scene with Eva, slammed against the stone wall with a massive fist of his sand. _Bam!_ _Bam! Bam!_

"It won't work, Gaara!" Eva's voice was growing worried, "We need a password to open this cave!"

"Eva-chan," Gaara spoke with a determined voice, "Do you know the password?"

Eva's face went as pale as the moon in the dark gloomy sky. It did not come to her that she actually knew the password, though accidentally…

O O O

"_Uwaaaaaa!" _

_Eva remembered the tortured scream that had invaded her ears. The poor Tobi was running through the corridor, barely escaping the bombs that had detonated right behind him. His aching feet brought him into an elevator, which was at the end of the long corridor. Without any mercy, Deidara moulded his explosive clay into white sparrows with his right hand. His other hand was grabbing Eva's wrist. _

_Tobi shouted in a matter-of-fact-tone, "Deidara-sempai, didn't you ask Tobi what you were doing with 'pretty lady'? Tobi said 'kissy-kissy'! Isn't honesty the best policy?"_

"_Who the hell cares about policy, un? I gonna kill you! Katsu!"_

_Kaboom! The devastating explosion hit the elevator's door, which had apparently closed itself after Tobi pressed the button._

_Eva spoke, half-amused, "I never thought a place like this could be so high-tech."_

"_Pein built this stupid elevator to prevent infiltration," Deidara explained with the cracking sound of his fist accompanying his words, "Whoever gets inside can't get out, unless he learnt the password, un."_

"_What if he doesn't know the password?" Eva questioned, her emerald eyes aroused with curiosity._

_Deidara smiled grimly, "He'll stuck in there until he is disposed of (by Zetsu), un."_

"_Sempai!" Tobi cried out, almost in tears, "Tobi's scared!"_

_Satisfied, Deidara smirked, "Better come out now or you'll be Zetsu's food, un."_

"_Tobi's not scared of Zetsu-san!" Tobi shouted shrilly, "Tobi's scared of the dark! Please teach Tobi the password again, Deidara-sempai!"_

"_Fine!" Deidara snarled, his temper reaching to its boiling point, "This is the last time I teach you, un!"_

O O O

"Naruto, can you hear me?" Eva shouted her lungs out, with her ear glued onto the cool-as-a-cucumber wall.

Naruto's voice thundered, "Loud and clear, believe it!"

"Now I want you to repeat after me, and when I told you to push the button, push it!" Eva paused for a space to breathe, "Okay?"

"Wait, Eva-chan," Gaara asked, "How many passwords are there?"

Eva looked at Gaara with smiling eyes, "Nine of them, to be exact. Some of them are funny names, and they have to be arranged in the correct order. It's thanks to someone that I happen to know about them."

"_Itachi, Konan, Zetsu, Tobi, Hidan__, Pein, Kakuzu, Kisame, Deidara," Eva thought uneasily, "These are the passwords that would open the cave and bring us up to where Deidara was supposed to be, but…"_

"_Deidara, I don't want you to die."_

* * *

End of Chapter 10


	11. Chapter 11:Golden Trophy

Chapter 11- Golden Trophy

Kakashi was leaning against the wall in the elevator, with his head hanging low, immersing himself in his favourite book, 'Come Come Paradise'. The elevator was moving very smoothly, albeit slowly. The jounin preferred it that way, for he could spend more time in his unusual reading habit. As his imagination was captured by the gripping love story, Naruto's enraged voice screamed into his ears like a rude awakening.

"Come on! Hurry up, stupid elevator!" Naruto went stamping onto the metallic ground impatiently and producing disturbing clanking sound, much to Kakashi's dismay.

Kakashi frowned, "It will take us a while before we reach there, Naruto. And the elevator won't hear you, in case you didn't know."

"Gah!" Naruto slumped onto the hard floor at one corner and barked loudly, "This elevator needs service badly!"

"Take it easy, Naruto," Pakkun advised Naruto, before turning up to Kakashi, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, Pakkun. You can go home," Kakashi said with a bored voice.

_Poof!_ Pakkun disappeared into thin air instantly, drawing another weird stare from Eva, who was sitting at the upper right corner with Gaara. As far as she could remember, she had not seen her Chi-hua-hua, Princess, doing something like that, let alone talking like a human being. Sighing longingly, she was wondering if she would meet with her dearest pet, friends, teachers, Ken…

Suddenly, a scary thought struck her.

"Gaara," Eva inquired the quiet boy beside her, "What happened to Ken? I remember you asked Deidara about his whereabouts. Is he missing or something?"

Gaara was not sure of how to answer Eva's multiple questions, knowing how much it would hurt her if she were to know the truth. Without any further ado, Gaara took out a dark scroll that he had pocketed in his costume and handed it to Eva. She received it with a questioning look on her face, before noticing the two signatures on the creased piece of the scroll. She had recognized one of them to be her father's, but the other one did not look that familiar to her.

"My men searched everywhere for Ken, but we only found this scroll of a forbidden 'jutsu'. We suspect he's with the Akatsuki now," Gaara explained solemnly.

"Joot-su?' Eva questioned with a big question mark on her face, "What's a 'joot-su'?"

"You don't know what a 'jutsu' is? You seriously need some training, dattebayo!" Naruto, who suddenly became interested in the conversation, rolled his eyes at Eva with disbelief.

"Not everyone is a ninja like you, Naruto," Kakashi spoke, without taking his eyes off his book, "By the way, Eva, I heard that your parents were in the ANBU Black-Ops before their resignation. They must have taught you a 'jutsu' or two."

"_ANBU Black-Ops? Joot-su? What in the world are those? Why don't they make any sense to me?" Eva thought with confusion stirring uneasily in her grey matter. _

In reality, Eva's parents would never let their daughter keep in touch with the ninja world, for a ninja had to be fully devoted to every mission, even risking their lives away, for the sake of accomplishing their mission. Because of that very reason, Eva's parents resigned, ensuring that Eva would not follow in their footsteps.

Kakashi knew Eva's parents too well; they were his seniors when he was still in the ANBU.

"I don't think they taught you anything," Kakashi concluded, as he closed his book abruptly. He then smiled at Eva, "But don't worry. I'll protect you."

"Yeah, that's right!" Naruto announced in a high-pitched voice, "And we'll save Ken from that bombing scumbag, no matter what!"

"Don't let your guard down, Naruto," Kakashi warned, "All the Akatsuki are going after you, and that 'bombing scumbag' is no exception."

"I know! I know! Quit nagging already, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto complained, pursing his lips upward with annoyance.

The elevator door opened mechanically like a pod, and Naruto stormed out like a wild child let loose in a playground. Kakashi sighed in a more regrettable tone than before, "He never listened to me. Oh well…time to get going."

Gaara rose up and followed Kakashi out of the lift. As Eva was making her move too, suddenly, the door closed itself, leaving her trapped alone in the unpleasant room. Kakashi had just pulled the lever near the door the very moment Gaara stepped out through the opening. The thick door nearly hit Gaara by a mere inch. The Kazekage was going to open his mouth to argue, but the concerned look on Kakashi's face told him a very good reason for his unexpected act.

Gaara nodded approvingly at Kakashi, who nodded in return.

"W-w-what's happening? Can you guys hear me?" Eva raised her shaky voice.

Kakashi replied, sounding apologetic, "Eva, you'll be safe here. We'll get you out as soon as we can."

Eva argued, her hands slamming demandingly against the stony door, "What did you mean 'get me out as soon as you can'? You have to get me out right now!"

"Gomenasai (Forgive me), Eva-chan. We don't want you to see us ninjas killing each other," Gaara ended, his voice coarsening more than ever.

Eva laughed nervously, "Ninjas killing each other? I saw that on T.V. lots of times till I lost count! So you got to get me out of here!"

No answer. Kakashi and Gaara had already left.

O O O

Naruto was racing along the narrow corridor, making his way to the dark room that was looming closer and closer with each step that he made. He was hunching his back and propelling his body forward, in an effort to quicken his pace. The jet-black slits of cloth that coiled around his head were flying vigorously. His heartbeat was rising tremendously high. Naruto had arrived first at the vast room engulfed in mild darkness, followed by Kakashi and Gaara.

"What's taking you so long, 'Jinchuuriki'?" Deidara's voice greeted them in a mocking way, "You're beginning to bore me to tears, un."

"What the hell have you done to Ken, you scumbag?" Naruto roared, his eyes blazing at the sight of Gaara's killer.

Deidara was standing solidly on his clay owl, which was hovering in the mid-air. His hand was seen grabbing the unconscious Sasori by his red hair, as though Sasori was a broken doll. Flashing an impish grin that was half-blocked by his tuft of flossy yellow hair, Deidara vehemently pulled a tuft of hair from Sasori's scalp and threw the fibrous strands into the sinister wind.

"What do you think I've done, un?" Deidara smirked, as he plucked another mop of maroon hair and tossed them disrespectfully in the angle of Naruto.

"HOW DARE YOU-"

Before Kakashi could move a muscle, Naruto already went charging towards Deidara like an angry bull towards its bull-fighter.

"Since you want your 'Jinchuuriki' friend so much, take it!" Deidara threw Sasori's body at Naruto, who jumped and held out his hands to catch it.

"Naruto!" Kakashi ran, gearing up to forestall Naruto from going any further, "That's a trap! Don't take it!"

"Art is a bang! Katsu!"

_Bang! _Sasori's body exploded in bright red, producing greyish dirty smoke that clouded around the exact spot. Thinking that Naruto was caught in his artistic detonation as well, Deidara gloated, "Hehehe…That's what you get for punching my face into a pulp, un."

As the mist of destruction was clearing up, what supposed to be Naruto's body turned out to be something else; it was a large ball of sand floating in the hazy air. Gaara was having his fingers entwined together, a stream of dirty brownish sand flowing out from his gourd.

"Hmph! Your sand is getting old, ex-Jinchuuriki," Deidara spat out in despise.

With his luminous eyes fixed upon his nemesis, Gaara ordered his sand to bring the mummified Naruto to Kakashi, who then placed the unconscious body carefully onto the cold floor. The sand that wrapped around Naruto's body fell freely back to the earth. To Kakashi's relief, his student had only suffered bruises and scratches, and not some serious injuries.

Gaara declared, "Enough of your games! For the last time, where is Ken?"

"I'll let you know where he is, as your 'consolation prize', un," Deidara grinned and searched under his cloak to find an object that he had pocketed safely there. After looking for the item for what seemed to be like forever, Deidara's self-satisfied grin was replaced by a bitter frown.

"Did you drop it, or you didn't know that you dropped it?" Kakashi yawned sleepily.

Too engrossed in his search, Deidara did not give heed to Kakashi's words. He zipped down his 'Akatsuki' cloak, took it off and flapped the overcoat to see if anything was falling out from its pockets. Nothing was falling out, except the remains of his clay. Unable to suppress his frustration, Deidara threw his cloak away; he was now dressed in a simple black shirt and a pair of trousers.

"Don't tell me you've lost it," Kakashi spoke, his face growing bored and tired.

Deidara smirked pretentiously, "What makes you think I lost it? Someone stole it from me and he'll pay for that, un."

"Deidara-sempai! Can Tobi have it without paying? Please, sempai? Tobi's piggy bank is kind of empty…"

To Deidara's horror, Tobi was standing at one far corner, his hands proudly lifting up Sasori's talisman like a golden trophy.

End of Chapter 11


	12. Chapter 12:Kamikaze

Chapter 12-Kamikaze

Three pairs of murderous eyes were staring at Tobi, whose legs suddenly went wobbly.

"Why is everyone staring at Tobi like that? Is there something on my face?" Tobi squeaked.

Veins popped on Deidara's neck, as he held out his hand demandingly, "Tobi, give me that talisman, un!"

"Awww, sempai!' Tobi whined, shaking Sasori's talisman as though it was a child's toy, "How about you give Tobi this as a birthday present?"

Tobi was waiting for an answer from his senior, when something incredibly-bright was heading in his way.

"Lightning blade!" Kakashi roared, his hand carrying a powerful source of electricity.

"Look, sempai!" Tobi pointed excitedly at the blinding light, "It's the sun!"

"Watch out, baka!"

_Zoom! _In a blink of an eye, Tobi disappeared from Kakashi's sight, forcing Kakashi to stop charging at the very last minute, almost hitting the wall.

"That kid…" Kakashi looked around frantically, "He's fast!"

"If you want this," Tobi, who was suddenly standing in the middle of the room, tossed the talisman up and caught it effortlessly, "Come and get it!"

As quick as a lightning, Tobi sped out of the room. He was so fast that nobody could see where exactly he was running to. Thunderstruck and slightly awed by the speed shown by the masked Akatsuki, Kakashi was staring aimlessly at the spot where Tobi was standing a while ago. That mysterious boy did remind him of someone who was precious to him, his mentor, the Yellow Flash of Village Hidden in The Leaves.

"Kakashi-san," Gaara's voice rudely shook Kakashi out of his deepening train of thoughts, "You go after that talisman. I'll keep an eye on Naruto."

Kakashi nodded imperceptibly, before dashing towards the exit.

"Where do you think you're going, un?" Deidara leered.

The former bomber-for-hire threw a set of clay birds at Kakashi with the intention of killing him for breaking his arm. Seeing the attack, Gaara quickly sent a wave of sand, which collided with Deidara's 'flying grenades' and…

_Boom!_ Kakashi successfully made his exit, triggering an annoyed look on Deidara's face. The evil sound of Deidara's owl flapping its wings was almost a bittersweet elegy to Gaara's ears.

"It doesn't matter, Kazekage-sama," Deidara smirked with pure sarcasm, "You're perfect for my art, un."

Moving forward with light steps, Gaara lifted his hands up, calling upon his grains of sand to swirl around him.

Gaara uttered curtly, "I'll tear you apart with my sand."

O O O

With the help of Pakkun to trace the smell of the masked enemy, Kakashi barged into one of the doors in the building. As expected, inside was Tobi, who was squatting next to a huge pile of marionettes. The talisman in his right hand was vibrating a little.

Kakashi was ready to lash at Tobi with his kunai, when the Akatsuki immediately held out his hands, as though as he was going to surrender.

"W-W-Wait! Tobi can explain!" Tobi stammered, unconsciously dropping Sasori's talisman onto the wooden ground.

The talisman flew and inserted into the hole of one random puppet at its own free will. Sasori opened his eyes to see the peeled-off ceiling, though his face looked slightly pale and exhausted.

"Sasori-san, you're awake!" Tobi bounced up and down jubilantly.

Pakkun, who was sitting on Kakashi's shoulder, whispered at the jounin's ear, "Kakashi, he's one weird kid…"

Tobi shot back with a hyperactive voice that was unusual for his age, "Tobi's not weird! Sasori-san almost got killed by the Akatsuki, so Tobi tried to save him!"

"Those words came from the mouth of an Akatsuki," Kakashi pointed his sharp weapon towards Tobi, "They aren't the truth, are they?"

Looking longingly at Sasori who was lying on the ground, Tobi spoke, "It's true that I'm an Akatsuki. I'm a scum for going against my own organization. But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."

Kakashi's heart stopped, his kunai slipping off his hand. Those were the exact same words his deceased friend had told him in the past. It could not be…

Tobi smiled warmly behind his brilliant orange mask, "Take care of Sasori-san, okay? Sayonara!"

"Obito!"

Kakashi went forward to touch Tobi, but the mysterious masked man had already dashed off to elsewhere…

O O O

Eva had chanted the password for the millionth time, but it did not do anything to open the door. It did not help at all that the room was gloomy and eerie and reeked with the smell of stench. Her teary eyes fell silently upon her own trembling hands; she had realised how painful it was to punch something so hard and so metallic. No matter how much strength she had exerted into her fists, the door would not budge.

"_I'm not like any of them. I'm not a ninja like Naruto. I can't control sand like Gaara. I'm just someone who's not even worth saving…"_

Another large tear plopped onto her cold and clammy hands, causing more pain to her already-stinging bruises.

"_I'll blow you up if you don't stop crying, un,"_ Deidara's words, however sarcastic they were, seeped into Eva's mind as if they were the most comforting words ever spoken to her.

Suddenly, the door opened up. The lights in the elevator turned on, shining upon Eva's tears, blinding her emerald eyes. She stood up slowly, holding her hopes high that it was Deidara who came to her rescue. When a handsome stranger came into her arms and engulfed her in a tight hug, Eva skipped a heartbeat.

"Thank goodness you're all right, Eva!" The voice unknown to Eva gushed, "I thought I won't see you again!"

"Who are you?" Eva murmured, slightly shocked.

The peculiar man pulled himself away from Eva. His hair was maroon and messy, with his eyes as black as coal staring deep into her eyes.

"It's me, Ken," Sasori stated, "You can see I'm different now but, hey, I look hotter than I was before, am I right?"

Sasori laughed at his own joke, but Eva merely gave a sad smile. She stared at her brand-new high-heels, which already looked worn-out from all the running and walking she did the past few days ago. Knowing who Ken was, she suspected that he must have gone through some kind of transformation to save her from Deidara with a powerful magic, or in the ninja world, they called it 'jutsu'.

Noticing how sorrowful Eva looked, Sasori decided to change the tone of his voice.

"Eva, I saw you and Deidara in his bedroom, and…" Sasori paused, before adding reluctantly, "You have my blessings."

Eva stared at Ken with bewildered eyes, "But Ken-"

"Call me Ken no more," Sasori interrupted, "Sasori of the Red Sands is my new name. You should call me 'Danna' from now on, or I'll make you my 299th puppet."

Although Eva could not comprehend what Sasori actually meant, she smiled anyway. She wrapped her arms around the puppet master and spoke with a heavy heart, "Thank you, Danna."

Before Sasori had the chance to say anything, Eva walked away with hurried steps.

Kakashi, who had been reading at one corner, spoke through his mask, "Ken, I know you're noble to let her go to find Deidara, but at this very moment, Deidara is fighting with Gaara."

A dumbfounded look fell upon Sasori's face.

O O O

_Boom! _

"Give up, ex-Jinchuuriki!" Deidara cast another flock of explosive sparrows at the colossal sand swarming behind his owl, "With this pathetic rate, we're not going anywhere, un."

Gaara was waving his hands in a rhythmical manner, focusing his aim at Deidara, instead of giving any hoots to his enemy's endless chatter.

_Crash! _The towering sand accidentally ravaged the wall, causing innumerable pieces of rocks to fall down like rain. Feeling terribly bored with the entire cat-and-mouse scenario, Deidara decided to take charge of the whole situation.

"Eat this!"

A team of tinier but quicker hummingbirds were plunging with the speed of a jet plane to Gaara's head. The Kazekage was not making any effort to create a ball of armour. Yet, his pale green eyes remained fearless, determined and fixed upon the kamikaze birds, which were charging straight at him.

"KATSU!"

Gaara managed to teleport just in time before the vicious birds burst into flames of hell.

"Shoot!" Deidara cursed, "That son of a witch escaped!"

"My mother is not a witch!"

Before Deidara could turn behind, Gaara punched him in the stomach with a massive hand of sand. An excruciating pain was sent down to Deidara's spine, as he fell down and crashed into the hard debris of rocks. Gaara, who was standing tall on his cloud of sand, was red-faced, apparently angered by the worst insult ever bestowed upon his beloved mother. After landing back onto the earth, with a sway of his arm, Gaara destroyed Deidara's porcelain owl.

A stitched hand with bleeding lips on its palm shot out from the rubble, followed by a head, though it was totally covered by a messy curtain of blonde hair.

"You and that accursed 'kyuubi' are the same…" Deidara muttered bitterly, "I hate Uchiha, and I hate you 'Jinchuurikis'!"

Gaara remained silent, observing how Deidara slowly heaved himself up from the huge pile of rocks. The terrorist rose to his feet, uncoiled his already-distorted ponytail and chucked away the rubber band. Panting faintly, he took off his scope, which was already crushed from the impact of the great fall. He threw that broken piece of machine too.

"I'm not done yet, un," Deidara grimaced, his black-and-blue hands groping at his waist for his bags of clay.

Deidara's heart jolted, when he found out that his belt was missing.

"Looking for this?" Gaara spoke emotionlessly, his hand holding out a leather belt with two pouches dangling from it.

Giving the dead-serious Kazekage a horrified stare, Deidara made a few steps behind. He knew that his life of an artist was coming to an end…

* * *

End of Chapter 12

**(Author's Note: 'Kamikaze' is a Japanese word which gives the meaning of Japanese suicide pilot in World War Two.)**


	13. Chapter 13:Smile For Me

**I hope that you like this one. Reviews are much appreciated! **

* * *

Chapter 13-Smile For Me

The wind was so cold and crisp, but not cold enough to cool down the blood that was boiling hot in Gaara's veins. Clenching the filthy belt tight in his hand, he glared at his worst enemy with cold and merciless beady eyes. Swirling restlessly around him was the unstoppable sand, which was yearning hungrily for its kill. Deidara, though appeared flabbergasted at first, started to smirk like he had always did, except that his current smirk had a sense of irony.

"The great Kazekage resorted to stealing," Deidara wiped the gleaming red liquid off his bruised lips, still smirking provokingly, "What would your people say if they see this, un?"

Gaara continued his meaningful silence, letting his murderous gaze to do all the talking. A sea of irritated wrinkles bulged on Deidara's smudged face, knowing that his remark had fallen on deaf ears, feeling as though he was speaking aimlessly to a non-living thing.

"You killed me. You tried to turn my village to dust," Gaara seethed unexpectedly, "I'll do _anything_ to kill you!"

Gaara waved his hands up at once, triggering mountainous sand to emerge from the earth. With a scowl that equalled to a ferocious lion, he brought his hands forward, and his gargantuan army of sand rushed to where Deidara was standing. Deidara's hands roamed around his waist for any clay to chew on, only to confirm that his pouches were indeed not in his possession any longer. Half-amused, he smiled slyly and waited for the sand to engulf him…

Realising something amiss in Deidara's devil-may-care attitude, Gaara attentively witnessed his sand swallowing Deidara like a whirlpool. He felt that a pair of eyes was eyeing at the pouches from behind. That was when Gaara brought his arm up and shouted, "Sand Coffin!"

"Aarghhhh!"

_Thuk!_ A clay replica of Deidara dropped onto the ground hard, as an aftermath of the devastating whirlpool. Ignoring the flattened piece of the human-sized clay, Gaara stared at the huge ball of sand that he had created, from the corner of his eyes.

"I knew you want your clay back," Gaara spoke hoarsely, particularly to the dirty brown ball that was floating in the mid-air, "I won't let you have it."

Getting his adrenaline pumped up to see his wretched opponent screaming in pain inside his 'cage', Gaara was more than ready to clamp his fist once and for all.

"Sand Buri-"

"GAARA, NOOOO!"

The loud, distinctive voice crashed Gaara's concentration into pieces. He turned to his right and stared hard at a girl in white, who was racing manically to him. She tugged at Gaara's sleeved arm, tears streaming down her emerald eyes. A few droplets of the hot tears touched Gaara's skin.

"Eva-chan, why?" Gaara said blankly, his greenish-blue eyes were unusually large and confounded.

"Please…" Eva implored, "Don't kill him."

Gaara's heart stopped, as he continued staring at Eva, as though she had a screw loose in her brain. Deidara's leather belt secretly ran down between Gaara's fingers. It collapsed onto the hard cement without anyone noticing it.

"But why, Eva-chan?" Gaara's voice grew rougher, "Why are you so concerned about an Akatsuki?"

Eva replied in a choking voice, "He's precious to me."

"_Precious?" _Gaara's inner self pronounced with utter disbelief. After gaining back his composure, he looked at Eva sternly with an impassive face.

"Don't get in my way!" Gaara said with authority, as he slapped Eva's hands, and ordered Sasori and Kakashi to keep her away from him. Giving Eva a final stern look, the Kazekage avoided hearing her cries of telling him to stop, by scurrying closer to the sphere of sand. Before executing his most fatal 'jutsu', he closed his eyes thoughtfully, losing himself in a line which he had spoken to Eva not long ago.

"_Gomenasai (Forgive me), Eva-chan. We don't want you to see us ninjas killing each other."_

"_Eva-chan,"_ Gaara whispered in his heart, _"You have my word."_

With that, Gaara held his hand high and lowered it down again. Obediently, the sand dropped to the concrete ground and seeped back into the earth.

O O O

Deidara opened his eyes painfully, as he strained to recognize the four blurry figures he was seeing.

"Deidara, please wake up…" One of them spoke in familiar, crying voice.

The blonde man felt beads of fresh tears falling onto his bloodied face, stinging him like acid rain. Forcing a teasing smirk, he mouthed, "I'll blow you up…if you don't stop…crying...un."

Eva looked down at Deidara with a smile of relief and happiness. She gently lifted the long golden strands of hair off his exhausted face and tucked them behind his ear. The other three shinobis were watching the whole scene furtively, feeling rather disturbed by the amount of affection Eva had shown to Deidara. Gaara gave a knowing look at Sasori, who responded with an understanding nod.

"Hey Eva," Sasori placed his hands upon Eva's shoulders, "We should go home now."

Eva, who was crouching next to Deidara's body, spoke with a concerned voice, "I guess that you're right, Danna. Deidara really needs to go to the hospital-"

"Eva!" Sasori cut in with purpose, "You're not seriously thinking of bringing him back to the village, are you?"

Eva laughed half-heartedly at the half-naked man, whose stomach was decorated with a hole, "That's seriously what I'm thinking, Danna! Of course we're bringing Deidara back to the village!"

Sasori bit his wooden lips, before adding realistically, "Deidara is sort of…different. You know we can't bring him with us."

"What makes him different to all of us?" Eva blurted out furiously, "I think you're just jealous I picked him instead of _you_!"

Looking grief-stricken as though Eva had scolded him with the most vulgar word in the world, Sasori was going to shoot back to disagree, when Kakashi intervened.

"Ken does have a point, Eva," The jounin spoke calmly, as he was examining Naruto's wounds, "That man you're associating with is a S-ranked criminal and had been listed in the Bingo book. Surely you don't think of bringing him to the hospital, do you?"

"So…" Eva was shaking with emotions, "You expect me to leave him to _die_ here?"

Kakashi asked with a solemn, unpretentious voice, "To leave him to die here or to bring him to the Hokage to be sentenced to death. Which one is bet-"

"Shut up!" Eva cried, closing her ears with both her wet hands, "Don't talk to me like I'm a ninja, because I don't know a word you're saying! I don't care if he's S-ranked or T-ranked or Z-ranked! I'm not leaving with you till he's leaving with us!"

Kakashi went speechless, not knowing what else to say. There was nothing more left to say to Eva, if she had thought that way. It did not seem to make any sense to him though, that someone like her would fall for a man as criminal as him.

"_Love is blind, I guess…" _Kakashi's heart sighed.

"Eva, please…," Sasori's words left his lips with a pleading tone, "You got to be reasonable, at least for me…at least for Deidara."

Deidara, who had been overhearing the loud conversation, peered up at the ugly traces of tears on Eva's cheeks. It was breaking his heart to see tears kept falling down from those beautiful emerald eyes. As long as he was an Akatsuki, he would not be able to see tears falling for him. He could only see tears falling from the faces of those whose family members had died in his hands.

Although it melted Deidara's heart to see Eva crying, it made him feel blessed to know that he was a normal person in her eyes, and not a killer…

Deidara's soothing thoughts were shattered instantly by Gaara's intense glare at him.

"_Make her leave with us,"_ Those green eyes said with extreme determination.

Deidara knew what must be done.

"Eva," Deidara smiled wearily at Eva, "What kind of art…you like, un?"

Eva looked down at Deidara with teary eyes, "Why are you suddenly asking this?"

"Just wondering…" Deidara answered briefly.

"I like…acting," Eva murmured.

"Acting?" Deidara smirked, as if it was the last word he had expected to hear from Eva, "Can you act…a convincing smile…un?"

Obeying Deidara's words, Eva curled her sad frown downward into a flawless smile, except that large tears kept oozing out from her beaming eyes. Deidara slowly held his trembling hand up, his tongue on his palm sticking out to lick those tears from her pale cheeks. He then gently lifted her chin up to see if there were any more stubborn droplets hiding under her jaw.

Deidara smiled proudly, "That's…better…"

Before Eva could open her mouth to speak, Deidara closed his eyes abruptly, his hand grinding against Eva's damp cheek, dropping onto the floor with a soft thud. The dark rings around his eyes become more pronounced, as the last breath of air left his lungs. He became stiff and cold.

"Deidara?" Eva gasped, "Deidara, wake up…"

Deidara did not respond.

"Deidara, that's not funny!" Eva shook his shoulders vigorously, forcing his body to shake like a lifeless dummy, "Wake up, you jerk-face!"

Instead of giving a piece of his mind to Eva, Deidara's head drooped, his blonde hair curtaining his emotionless face. Blood trickled from the corners of his cracked lips, before splashing against the surface of the earth.

"Deidara, how can you do this to me?" Eva shouted, "HOW CAN YOU?"

Her tears that had already dried up began to fall once again. Like a mad banshee, she went shaking the body to no end, screaming his name at the top of her lungs.

"He's dead," Gaara spoke with finality, his hand reaching out to stop Eva from tampering with Deidara's body.

_Piak!_ Eva gave Gaara's neck a hard slap, which was originally intended for his face.

"You're happy now?" Eva cried at Gaara, her tears flowing down profusely, "It's all your fault! I hate you! You're worse than a monster!"

Letting her emotions take the better of her, Eva smacked Gaara's chests with every ounce of strength left in her fists, as though Gaara was her punching bag. Kakashi and Sasori were going to interfere, when the Kazekage jerked up his hand.

"Let her," he said.

"You're a heartless freak! Who cares if you're the whatever-kage? You have no right to kill him!"

Eva's head collapsed onto Gaara's shoulder; her sobbing face sank into his grey garment, her voice getting muffled,

"Why, Gaara? Why does everybody I love have to die? Mommy...Daddy…Deidara…All died…"

How Gaara wished he could give her an ice-cream, if it would make her feel better…

Hesitantly, Gaara pat Eva on the back, letting her cry on her own. As the time passed by slowly, Eva's moaning ceased to sound. Her head then suddenly slipped off Gaara's broad shoulder. The quiet Kazekage managed to grab Eva before she fell to the ice-cold ground.

Eva had fainted.

* * *

End of Chapter 13


	14. Chapter 14:Beautiful Ending

**I'm sorry for not updating for a long time! I didn't expect that I would be so busy! XP**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter and reviews please!**

* * *

Chapter 14-Beautiful Ending

Pale moonlight broke through the cracks patterning the humid wall, pouring itself upon Deidara's bloodied face. His red cheeks were deeply sunken, matted mostly by dirty strands of golden hair and uncomfortably wet due to sweats spurting out from his skin. His eyes painfully opened to see that the already-unconscious Eva was hanging on Sasori's arms. Every part of him wanted to wrench Eva away from Sasori, mainly because it was definitely heart-breaking for him to know that Eva had 'officially' belonged to the puppet master, his most hated rival in art. After a breath of condemnation, Deidara closed his eyes to think everything over...

Deidara had never thought that his 'amateurish' acting would succeed in making Eva convinced that he was dead. He was never good in acting, let alone having to play dead by holding his breath so tight and having to suppress all his emotions deep inside his aching heart, leaving some important words to be left unsaid...

"_I never wanted to let you go, Eva. But you're too vulnerable to be with a desperado like me. It's for the best that you go home. You'll be safe there, un."_

"I see some good in you, as funny as it sounds," Kakashi spoke out to Deidara with an expected hint of hostility, his tired shoulder bearing the full weight of Naruto, "Later."

_Poof!_ The jounin disappeared out of sight. Deidara's swollen eyes slowly shifted to Gaara, whose impassive face did not change much, except for a crystal-clear unsatisfied frown was already written all over it. Deidara glowered at his number-one-nemesis, though it caused his blood-shot eyes to hurt a little.

"What are you...waiting for? Eva won't know...even if you...kill me now, un..."

In response to Deidara's morbid offer, Gaara merely shot him a brief infuriated glance, before making his leave with a 'teleportation jutsu'. Deidara could not believe his eyes; how could someone who wanted to get rid of him so much spare his life?

"You're quite an actor, Deidara," An all-too-familiar, mocking voice infiltrated Deidara's disturbing thoughts.

Sasori was wearing a lop-sided smile in a self-satisfied manner. His head tilted sloppily to the left with utter sarcasm specially made for the blonde lying helplessly in a pool of blood.

"You can act yourself...Danna..." Deidara smirked back in difficulty.

"The personality change in me is obvious, but that isn't an act," Sasori explained like a much-superior being, "I am both Sasori and Ken. Didn't you know that, Deidara?"

"I...suspected," Deidara snorted.

"But too bad," Sasori chuckled sinisterly, his cheeks digging back to reveal a perfect set of white teeth, "You told me, Deidara, that true art is transient. Ironically, your life is transient too. Unlike me who would continue to exist, your life would eventually end."

"What is life...without its ending...un?" Deidara argued defiantly, "Not only the life...of an art must be beautiful...but its ending...as well..."

"Tch! I don't want to hear any more nonsense from you, Deidara. Oyasumi (Goodnight)."

Before Deidara knew what had happened, a cloud of sinister mist engulfed Sasori whole, leaving nothing but an empty dark space behind. Deidara could not help but to smile knowingly; he had predicted earlier that Sasori was going to leave him to bleed to death there and then. There was no way Sasori was going to give him a helping hand, since their relationship was nothing more than 'partners-in-crime'. He hated Sasori as much as Sasori hated him, all because of their creative differences in the matters of art, regardless of the triviality of the issues that they had discussed.

Isn't true art supposed to end beautifully for others to witness and admire, instead of forcing it to live forever so that it would be left forgotten in vain?

That was when Deidara sensed that he was not alone. His gory head tilted slightly to focus his deteriorating attention towards his batted bags of clay; its contents were scattered all over the sandy floor like beautiful white buds of spring flowers. Deidara smiled accidentally, wondering how beautiful it would be if he were to end his life with the greatness of his own art. Whatever he would feel later on, it would be just like a painless death. He pressed his trembling hands together, singled out two bruised fingers and a thumb each, his unblinking teal-blue eyes staring hard at his chunks of porcelains, before losing himself to his subconscious thoughts,

"_I'll prove it to you one last time that true art is a big bang, Danna..."_

"SEMPAI, DON'T DO IT!"

O O O

Gaara was gazing meaningfully at the twinkling stars that dotted the mesmerizing black sky, as he walking back home following the trail through the great valley in the mountain. He was in a dilemma, nevertheless, after everything that had occurred on that single night. It became a cold, hard fact that he had let his mortal enemy live. The Kazekage's greenish eyes regretfully fell upon his hand, whilst his fingers closed themselves to form a tight fist.

"_Sand burial,"_ Gaara imagined himself saying that, which he had failed of doing so earlier before. He wished that he would have just taken Deidara's life without sparing any thoughts for Eva. What makes Deidara so important to Eva that she would not let him hurt that villainous man? Gaara thought hard for answers, but it ended up giving him more difficult questions...

Was Eva that important to him(Gaara)? If not, then why would he release Deidara off his grip of death? Was it because he knew that what he had done would make Eva happy?

"One bowl...special 'ramen'..." Naruto muttered unconsciously in his sleep, his body twitching restlessly on Kakashi's already-numb shoulder. A drop of saliva rolled down his bottom lip to his mentor's turtleneck jacket.

Kakashi gave a long sigh, "Well, I said I'll do anything to protect my students, but this isn't one of it..."

Gaara cast a questioning look at the much-experienced jounin, "Kakashi-san?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you prefer me to kill the Akatsuki?"

Kakashi pondered for a short moment, before speaking thoughtfully,

"Yes, I would have preferred you to eliminate him. It's only logical that we do what we are ordered to do in our mission. But following orders isn't necessarily everyone's path of ninja. Take Naruto for instance...Nowadays, you don't often see anyone going against my orders to save a friend."

The vivid image of Naruto smiling at him the very moment after he was brought back to life flashed instantly in Gaara's mind. He had heard much from his elder siblings that Naruto had gone the extra mile to retrieve his corpse from the clutches of Deidara, even disobeying Kakashi's orders for countless times. Besides giving the drooling Naruto a grateful look, Gaara nodded in agreement to Kakashi's wise words.

"So you're saying what I did was right?" Gaara asked.

Kakashi shrugged, "To tell you the truth, I really don't know. It's all up to you. As long as you think what you did was right, there should be no problems after that."

"It's not that simple," Sasori spoke abruptly, his maroon head turning swiftly to Kakashi, "Gaara-sama is the _Kazekage_. It's unarguably his duty to protect his people and to eradicate whoever that threatened to harm them."

Kakashi frowned darkly at Sasori, "Ken, is it just me, or you have something going on between you and that blonde Akatsuki?"

"I have no connection with that punk what-so-ever," Sasori turned away, his disgruntled face hidden in the shadows. His woody arms held on tighter to Eva's cold body, realizing how sweaty he was, thus fearing that Eva might fall off his slippery hands. How could Eva love that 'punk' so much? A so-called artist who was so full of himself but knew nothing about true art; what was so good about him?

As far as Sasori was concerned, the only thing that Deidara was good at was bragging about how beautiful his 'masterpiece' was...

"_What is life without it's ending, un? Not only the life of an art must be beautiful but its ending as well..."_

"The ending of a life must be beautiful?" Sasori's lips moved inwardly, "What a joke."

_BANG!_

Curiously, Sasori's head turned behind. His dirty brownish eyes grew wide and his heart suddenly stopped; what he saw was anything but a joke.

The high mountain that held the Akatsuki's lair was gone. Only its rubble and whatever left from the strange explosion decorated the place like a burial ground...

* * *

End of Chapter 14


	15. Chapter 15:A Killer's Stare

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Chapter 15 - A Killer's Stare

A few days had passed. The wind blew the clouds away from the scorching hot sun in the blue sky. Sarah squeezed through the mass of crowd in the long corridor at her high school, moving as steadily as possible, while trying her best not to spill the hot cup of coffee that she had been holding ever-so-carefully in her tiny hands. She passed by a group of her classmates, who were gossiping about Eva's sudden return with much enthusiasm. Rumours about Eva involved in some kind of conspiracy with the Akatsuki had been spreading like wild fire. When asked, Eva gave a mirthless laugh and told her friends not to believe what they had heard. Sarah was one of those friends. If only Eva could be a little nicer to her, then she would not be afraid of asking Eva herself about the infamous S-ranked criminals.

The buttoned-nose girl stared with fear at the infamous name 'Eva Black' on the twinkling star on the door. She shivered at the thought of what she had to go through if she were to enter the door, which was waiting to be opened. After taking in a necessary breath of fresh air, Sarah turned the door knob and popped her head through the gap she made.

"Eva, can I come in? Your coffee is here," Sarah spoke with bated breath.

Eva was sitting comfortably on the cushioned settee. She was an image of a beautiful princess in white, who was combing her black silky hair with so much grace and poise. It was as though she did not realize Sarah was there. Sarah watched her classmate coiling her waist-length hair with her dainty fingers into a tight ponytail, before pushing it high up to the top of her head. Everything that Sarah had seen caused her to gasp a little. If her memory served her right, Eva hated to tie her hair more than anything in this world…

"What are you standing there for?" Eva said sharply, "Are you going to give me the coffee, or what?"

Sarah jumped, but she wasted no time to obey Eva's order. She gritted her teeth nervously, her hands were shaking as they cautiously placed the steamy cup of coffee on the make-up table. Giving a huge sigh of relief for a well-done-job, Sarah was going to leave, when an unlikely tone reached her ears.

"Nice coffee, Sarah. Thank you."

Sarah stopped halfway. The voice was full of sincerity and gratefulness, a total contrast to how Eva had been treating Sarah over those years.

"P-p-pardon, but could you please repeat what you had just said?"

Eva looked annoyed but managed to keep her composure. She smiled at Sarah instead of glaring,

"I said, 'Nice coffee, Sarah. Thank you.' Another coffee for my Princess (her Chi-Hua-Hua), please. You can get the coffee for her later. She's out with…what's that talking dog's name…Packon…"

"A 'thank you' from Eva? And now, a talking dog?" Sarah laughed nervously, "I think I need to get myself a cup of coffee…."

Before Eva could even open her mouth to reply, Sarah already went walking out through the door with a blank look on her face. It was a moment of denial for Sarah, and Eva realized that what she had spoken was in fact not necessary to be spoken to a person who had never been in her shoes before. No one but herself knew what she had gone through. Would anyone actually believe her that she had fallen in love with her own kidnapper? She doubted that.

Decided to clear her thoughts of her painful love experiences, Eva snatched the steamy cup of white coffee off the mahogany table and gave it a hasty sip. The coffee burned her tongue intensely, but her lips remained clamped at the edge of the glass, and her throat forced down the undesirable over-heated drink. Her sweat was rolling down her fair cheeks, as she held her breath tight.

"This is hopeless," A dark, masculine voice shattered Eva's train of thoughts, "What you're drinking is coffee, not poison."

As soon as Eva finished the lava-hot coffee, her moist eyes looked up at the tall man standing stoically before her. Sasori was still clad in a flowing black cloak, except that it was lacking the red clouds that the Akatsuki was famous for. None of their friends knew what had happened to Ken. The best excuse Sasori could come up with was Ken had been transferred to another school at the spur of the moment, and he was just a mere replacement of Ken. Thankfully, Sasori's eternal youth had convinced everyone that he was a harmless adolescent.

"What gives you the idea that I want to kill myself, Danna?" Eva gave a suspicious look at Sasori, while she placed the empty cup back on the table.

"I always thought girls like to do foolish things," Sasori droned on, "Just because someone died, it's going to be the end of the world for them. It hurts me to see you like this, Eva. It would be nice if you just forget about Deidara and move on."

Eva bit her rosy lips bitterly, "I can never forget those who had passed on, no matter how hard I try. I know this sounds cheesy: nothing lives forever, but beautiful things would always be left behind," She added with an optimistic smile, "For instance, sweet memories."

At first, Sasori said nothing of the statement. He thought hard for a short while, before saying with a disapproving tone, "You're starting to sound like Deidara, Eva."

"Oh, really?" Eva smirked playfully, "You're starting to sound like an old man. A senile one."

Eva burst into silly giggles when Sasori began to rub his temples with purple-tipped fingers, an angry frown scrawled across his handsome face. He had been getting migraines lately, ever since he returned from Deidara's hometown in the Village Hidden Among the Stones. A part of Sasori wanted to tell Eva this, but most of him just wanted to act as if he did not know anything.

Deidara was still alive.

Sasori faced down and closed his eyes, immersing himself in a bad reminiscence of his encounter with his loud comrade.

O O O

"Tobi! Who the hell brought this _old man_ here?"

Deidara fumed, as he jerked upward on his bed, as if his bandaged body was strung by a puppeteer's strings. A few cuts, still red and fresh, decorated his awfully-pale face. Some were so deep that they have the potential to turn to scars. The mere sight of Deidara's sorry state gave Sasori a very good reason to chuckle disdainfully and sarcastically, but the only look Sasori presented to Deidara was a simple look of pure boredom weaved with disappointment. It was not the disappointment of seeing his partner in that terrible condition. It was the disappointment that Deidara was still able to breath, see, hear, feel…

That he was not dead.

"Well…" Tobi, who was slouching lazily on a chair in Deidara's residence, pointed out frankly, "Tobi don't see any old man here, sempai. Tobi only see Sasori-san."

"Don't play dumb with me, Tobi," Deidara stared hard at his junior, the bruised mouth on his right palm chewing something steadily, "Or else…"

Tobi sat up straight, "Or else what? Are you going to blow me up again? Sempai, Tobi took away all your clay, and there's nothing you can do about it. Haha!"

"That's what you think, un," Deidara revealed a nicely-crafted baby dragon in his hand and threw it at his target, Tobi.

"Kat..."

"WAAAAAHHHHH!"

Tobi shrieked and bolted to the door to his escapism, before slamming it close.

"SU!"

_Pak! _The baby dragon squashed itself hard against the old oak door. It plopped onto the cement ground with a thud, and turned into a disgusting chunk of mash potato. Sasori was taking a closer look at the damaged piece of art out of curiosity, when Deidara snapped,

"What-the-heck? It won't explode! What a waste of my finest art, un!"

"You used chewing gum instead of the usual clay?" Sasori snorted, "How low can you go, Deidara?"

"Do I look like I have a choice, Sasori-danna? That idiot stole my spare clay, un."

Sasori chuckled darkly, eyes dancing lightly as he reached for the flaring hot teapot and a china cup on the dusty table to pour a nice cup of Japanese tea for himself. He gulped it down in one go. Giving out a self-satisfied smile with a touch of delight, the puppet master switched his cold eyes to Deidara, whose golden hair was uncoiled and flowed almost down to his waist.

"No need to show-off," Deidara quacked, "I know very well that you cheap puppets don't feel warmth, coldness nor pain, un."

"That's because I'm a human puppet, Deidara. What if I'm a normal human? Would I be so silly to drink it without waiting for it to cool first?"

Deidara smirked haughtily, "Nobody's that stupid enough to do that, un."

"Well, Eva does that everyday," Sasori's voice grew menacing, "All because she thought you're dead."

A sudden pang of guilt hit Deidara, who muttered, "Self-inflicted pain? Doesn't she have any better things to do, un?"

"As if I know," Sasori snorted again, "Remember I said that you're the kind of getting yourself killed before you know it?"

"Yeah. What of it?"

"I take those words back. Don't get yourself killed again, Deidara. Currently, I'm preparing myself for a drama performance with Eva. If you are shameless enough to take her back before that performance, she's yours. Otherwise…"

Sasori stared eye-to-eye with Deidara, who heard his senior's further words that clung to his heart like a curse.

"She's mine forever."

O O O

"Hel-lo! I'm talking here! Are you listening to me, Danna?"

Sasori's attention shifted back to Eva, who had her arms crossed on her breasts. She could see in Sasori's eyes that his mind had been wandering away while she was practising her lines for the drama, Cinderella. Sighing with frustration, Eva uttered calmly,

"Okay, let's start it all over again! The narrator says: The prince comes in…"

"_Deidara hasn't come yet...Could it be that that incorrigible brat is not coming for Eva?" _Sasori's mind was swimming with anxiety.

Eva added enthusiastically, "With Cinderella's glass slippers in his hands, he came to Cinderella's house in search for its owner. Then, he said…"

"Ashiteru (I'm in love with you), Eva."

"You got the line wrong, Danna!" Eva complained, "You're supposed to say-"

Eva gasped when Sasori unexpectedly caught hold of her hands and looked at her in the eye. His hands are strangely rough and cold like dried firewood, yet the eyes he had on his attractive face were soft and gentle. Eva had no idea why she could not move away from Sasori. Feeling as though her slim waist was being tied by a rope, she looked down and was shocked to find out that she was indeed being tied by a rope. It was Sasori's rope that crept silently from the hole in his abdomen.

Eva's face was full of puzzlement with a tremendous amount of fright. She felt Sasori's fingers running along her nape, making their way up to her high ponytail and untied it. The rubber band plopped down to the shiny marble floor.

"I hate ponytails," Sasori spoke briefly as an explanation to Eva. He smiled reassuringly, before pulling her closer to his body and tightening his grip on her pelvis. His lips were approaching hers, and it caused her adrenaline to spike up.

"What are you doing, Danna? Stop it! NOOOO!"

_Bam!_

The door was swung open, and came in Gaara. His whole face expression changed when he saw the awkward position Sasori and Eva were in.

"Eva-chan! Ken! What's going on here?"

With all her might in her muscles and sinews, Eva pushed Sasori, who had accidentally loosened his grasp on her. She gave Sasori a dirty look and stormed outside her room. Knowing something amiss, Gaara's stern eyes demanded for truthful answers from Sasori. The puppeteer only gave the Kazekage a killer's stare.

* * *

End of Chapter 15


	16. Chapter 16:Behind That Frown

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Happy reading! :D

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Chapter 16-Behind That Frown

Gaara could no longer tell whether the man glaring back at him was Ken or the supposedly-dead Akatsuki, Sasori of the Red Sands. It caused his heart to be restless when he came up with a suspicion: when Ken changed his physical looks to Sasori's, he indirectly allowed Sasori to control his mind. To his utter dismay, what he thought was a possibility had turned out to be the truth. Was the boy that he had known and had befriended not long ago turned out to be the traitor of his village? He could not be sure. He could only guesstimate that maybe Ken was only an imaginary friend that he once ever had.

Sand was stirring around Gaara with extreme readiness to attack, but something deep inside his heart was holding him back from lashing it out at the person that he had once called a 'friend'.

"What are you waiting for?" Sasori snorted, giving out a small smile at the boy smaller than him, "No wonder Deidara took you out that easily. I almost thought that he won't make it out alive from your filthy old village."

"My village is _your_ village too," Gaara's blood-shot eyes brightened.

Sasori burst in a series of ironical laughter, "Thanks for reminding me about something that I tried so hard to forget. I never liked the thought of me coming from this place. I rather be in hell."

"That's not a thought; that's a fact," Gaara seethed, "And I'll be sending you straight to hell if you try to hurt Eva again. Mark my words.

Silence fell between them, as each of them giving each other hostile and distasteful stares, as though their friendship, however short-lived, had never existed before. Without a word, Gaara departed with the aura of a Kazekage, leaving Sasori behind with a terrible sense of loneliness.

Sasori looked down at the marble floor beneath his puppet feet. Sasori or Ken, he would not have the heart to hurt Eva. The advances which he made towards Eva were not out of evil intentions, but it was because he loved her so much. He did regret of telling Deidara to come to take her away from Sand Village. From that act alone, he felt that his broken heart was cruelly ripped off from his chest, no matter how silly and nonsensical it sounded (because he did not have a heart).

Hesitantly, Sasori turned to the make-up mirror which was glued to the wall. He took off his cloak and tugged at the collar of his dark shirt with his index and middle fingers. An ugly patch of brown scar streamed down across his wooden neck. The hot tea which he had drank, was the cause for that inerasable scar.

"_I know very well that you cheap puppets don't feel warmth, coldness nor pain, un."_

"_You're half-right, Deidara. It's not physical pain that I'm suffering from. I feel the pain mentally and emotionally, especially after you've taken my place in Eva's heart."_

That would be the reply Sasori would have given Deidara, if only he was not too proud to admit that he was hurt.

O O O

The day was extremely warm and dry, but Eva made no effort to wipe the sweat off her lustrous forehead. She had never spent thirty minutes of her time just to be outside under the cruel sun in the desert village, for the fear of ultraviolet rays that may damage her beautiful and fair skin. If she would have to go out, she would at least bring an umbrella with her, and it would have to be a silver one to reflect back the harmful rays away from her. But on that day, she did not care about it.

After all, it had been ages since Eva made any trips to the memorial cemetery. It had always been Ken who became her substitute to pay respects to her deceased parents. The lame reason that she had always given Ken for not coming with him was because she was either busy or sick. Ken 'believed' her, nevertheless. In the end, Eva felt guilty for letting Ken do her duty as her parents' only child, but did she have any choices left? Whenever she came to see her parents, she would not stop crying. Crying was something that she did not want to do all the time.

"Mommy…Daddy…" Eva looked fondly at the familiar names carved on the stones sitting in front of her, "Kakashi-san told me great stories about how strong you were as ninjas. Teach me how to be strong too."

Eva clasped her hands together, and her head slightly bowed at the dirty greyish stones. She nibbled on her pale pink lips, as she sucked back her tears that threatened to escape from the corner of her eyes. How could she be strong, if she was the one who was always crying when someone died?

"It's okay to cry," A girly voice greeted her like an old friend, "Crying makes you feel better."

Eva could not help but to gape for approximately thirty seconds when the first thing about the stranger that attracted her was the flossy bang on her smiling face.

"Deidara?" She mouthed.

The mysterious girl chuckled good-naturedly, "You must have mistaken me for someone else. I'm Ino Yamanaka, and I sell beautiful flowers. Come to my shop at Village Hidden in The Leaves on Valentine's Day. I'll give special discounts just for you."

The girl, who called herself Ino, was not much different compared to Deidara, except that she was slimmer, prettier and friendlier, and she was a girl. Eva was amazed by how blue and shiny her crystal eyes were, unlike Deidara's eyes, which were slightly dark and creepy. Ino's bang flowed down on the right part of her face, instead of the left side. Her blonde hair was lighter than sunflower yellow. Her choices of outfit were a purple tank top that showed off her curves and a pair of shorts with a purple skirt on the outside. Her knees were sheathed with tight translucent stockings. The wind blew her hair softly to the left, which made her look even more attractive and more feminine.

"_On the second thought, she is so not like Deidara. How could I think she is Deidara? How can Deidara be beautiful? I seriously need a shocking treatment right now," _Eva crinkled her nose with embarrassment.

Ino spoke teasingly, "So who's Deidara? Your boyfriend?"

Eva sniffed and hastily wiped the fresh tears off her swollen eyes, muttering morbidly, "Does it really matter? He's dead."

"What?" Ino squinted her eyes with deep concentration, "Sorry, I can't hear you. What were you saying?"

Putting up an annoyed frown on her face, Eva said sarcastically, "Just forget it. I can easily get a new boyfriend in the next second anyway."

_Poof!_

Gaara suddenly appeared out from an apparition of smoke in front of Eva and handed out an ice-cream to her. Eva jumped, giving a sharp yelp of surprise at the same time.

"Gaara, that's really cool and all, but don't scare me like that!" Eva clutched at her chest, trying to get rid of the rude shock.

"Kawaii! (Cute!)" Ino cried out with admiration, "Why didn't you tell me that Gaara's your new boyfriend? I'll leave you two to talk, okay? Ja-ne! (See you again!)"

"Wait!" Eva shouted, "Gaara's not my new boyfriend-"

Eva's sentence was cut short by Ino's unpredictable disappearance into the thin air. She sighed regretfully, before noticing the white creamy ice-cream in Gaara's hand. It had already started to melt.

"Ice-cream? It's vanilla," Gaara's raspy voice was loud and clear, although it was unusually deep.

Eva blushed slightly at the offer, especially after Ino had claimed excitedly that Gaara was her new boyfriend. It was undeniable that Gaara had been treating her nice lately. By hook or by crook, he had managed to find the time to be with her, although he had always been busy being Kazekage inside his office. Eva had always enjoyed Gaara's company, because of all the guys that she had met, he was different and special. But Eva knew that her enjoyment she gained for being with Gaara had to stop. She liked Gaara as a friend, and nothing more.

Smiling gratefully at Gaara, Eva thought back about the fateful day when she was the one who had offered Gaara a vanilla-flavoured ice-cream when he was crying. She took her favourite ice-cream from Gaara's hand and gave it a lick. Its coldness stung her already-blistered tongue, but she managed to endure the pain without expressing it to Gaara. The ice-cream was sweet, but painful.

"Are you hurt, Eva-chan?" Gaara asked with deep concern, "If you want me to punish Ken for what he tried to do to you, I can-"

Eva shook her head, thus interrupting Gaara. She explained, "Ken and I had been together for a long time, so I know it's hard for him to accept that we suddenly broke up without any good reasons."

"You love Deidara. Isn't that reason good enough for you, Eva-chan?" Gaara said.

Eva ceased licking her delicious vanilla ice-cream. Her sparkling eyes shifted from her ice-cream to Gaara's emotionless face. She stared at his dark eyelids that framed his greenish eyes, which were lacking pupils like the ones that she had. At that very moment, she realised how red Gaara's scar 'Love' on his forehead was.

"Gaara," Eva paused to clear her throat, "Why do you hate Deidara? What did he do to make you want to kill him?"

Gaara did not take his eyes away from Eva. His red hair was tousled by the dusty wind, and his pale face was growing darker.

"He infiltrated my village. He also threatened the safety of my people by attempting to blow this village up. Don't you see how _crazy_ this man is?" Gaara pressed on.

"I know Deidara's acting like a psycho, but I don't care," Eva smiled almost proudly with her choice of words, "You're being just like Ken, Gaara. Don't you remember what he told me when I tried to get close to you?"

"_He's a monster! Don't go near him! He'll kill you!"_

"I remember," Gaara said briefly.

"Good!" Eva finished whatever left of her ice-cream with one last bite and brushed the bits of cream off her palms. She added with a contented smile on her face,

"Deidara's crazy, so what? You were a monster, so what? Sometimes you ninjas can be so paranoid. Thank God I'm not one!"

Eva was waiting for Gaara to laugh or smile at her joke, but the serious frown on his face was already fixed and was impossible to be adjusted.

"Where is your sense of humour?" Eva complained, her hands on her hips, "Instead of wasting my breath on you, I better go get ready for my drama performance. Being late is so unprofessional."

Eva gave a dissatisfied frown at Gaara and was ready to leave, when Gaara's voice rang in her ears.

"Eva-chan!"

Eva turned behind and said sulkily, "Yeah, what do you want, Mr. Frowny Face?"

"Gambateh. (Good luck.)"

Gaara forced a little smile, which Eva thought was quite pleasing to the eyes. Who would have thought that the boy whom everyone called a monster was actually a handsome prince in disguise? Nodding appreciatively at the Kazekage who had saved her too many times, Eva made her way to the close hall where everyone was waiting for her performance.

* * *

End Of Chapter 16


	17. Chapter 17:Nothing But A Dream

Chapter 17- Nothing But A Dream

Eva had never been so nervous before. Still smiling at Sasori, she walked off in a hurried manner to the backstage, her hands clutching tightly at her blue satin dress. She deliberately let her right crystal slipper slipped off her foot and left it on the stage. Heart palpitating, Eva rushed to the closest changing room that she could find, ignoring the loud applause that came from the audience. Once inside the cubicle, she locked the door shut. She stared at herself in the long mirror and blew out a breath of relief.

"_Thank God! He's way too good in acting, and I thought we're not going to make it till this far. How silly of me to get myself worried over nothing. Phew!"_

A confident smile formed on Eva's lips, as she undressed and grabbed the plain grayish dress off the hook on the wall. She had never liked the _gross_ feel of the rag-like texture of the dress, but she put it on for the sake of the performance. However uncomfortable the dress was, it fitted her right. With her costume done, she went to face the wall mirror and was going to repair her make-up.

It was then that she realized how pale her emerald eyes were.

"_You really think that crying your eyes out will bring Deidara back to life?" The shiny mirror 'spoke' to her like a wise fairy godmother, "Move on, my goodness!"_

"_You're right. I guess there's no point in thinking about someone who's already dead,"_ Eva answered ruefully to the mirror, as though it was talking to her a while ago.

"_Everything that happened between Deidara and me was a dream, and nothing but a dream. I seriously need to move on."_

O O O

"That actor is so 'kawaii'(cute)!"

Unable to control herself, Ino shrieked with total ecstasy, drawing a few angry stares from the spectators of the show, who were unfortunate enough to be in the hearing distance.

"I've never seen that actor before, but I'm already falling for him! Don't you feel the same way too, Sakura?"

The blonde teenage girl looked hopefully at her 'rival in love' for an explosive 'yes!' as the answer to her question. Sakura Haruno did nothing to give a reply; instead, a grim line of concentration spread across her serious face. Her cherry blossom hair shook uneasily, as she tried hard not to take her eyes of Sasori. She blinked a few times and pinched herself hard in the arm. The instant pain that she felt was the ultimate proof that she was in fact not dreaming.

Sasori was still alive…right there in front of her…on the stage…at Village Hidden in The Sands.

"_How could that be possible?"_

Sensing something amiss with her childhood friend seated next to her, Ino asked with genuine concern,

"What's the matter, Sakura? Is something wrong? You don't look so good."

"Don't be such a busybody, Ino-pig," Sakura hissed.

"Fine! But be very careful, Sakura, because your '_big_ forehead' is going to be bigger than your butt!"

After flaunting her outrageously-long silver pony-tail at Sakura, Ino floundered away, determined to find a 'better' seat partner than the one she had before. Sighing with huge relief for getting rid of the 'pig', Sakura fixed her jabbing stare at the supposedly-dead puppet master. She did not wonder why Ino could not recognize Sasori as the infamous S-ranked criminal from the Akatsuki, because as far as she could remember, the only ninjas who had actually lived after seeing Sasori's true face were her and Elder Chiyo, who had sacrificed herself resurrecting Gaara.

With steely determination and fiery spirit burning in her big emerald eyes, Sakura began to button up her black deadly gloves, when someone came to sit beside her without her permission.

"Ino-pig, quit bugging me, will you?" Sakura's teenage voice grew womanly exasperated.

"Sorry to disturb you, Sakura-san. There is rather an important matter I want to discuss with you."

Sakura gasped incredulously when the one that she thought to be Ino was the most important figure in the Sand Village.

"Sumimasen (I am sorry), Kazekage-sama!" Sakura bowed apologetically at Gaara, her face turning pinker than her shocking pink hair, "I thought you were one of my craziest friends!"

Gaara, with his calm and composed face, gave an understanding nod, "There's no need to be formal with me. I may be Kazekage, but you saved my life."

"I didn't save your life, Kazekage-sama," Sakura's lips parted in a humble smile, "Chiyo-basama did. So is there something you want to tell me?"

"It's about Saso-"

"Hey, Gaara!" A male voice, merry and casual, cut Gaara's string of words short, "Is there something you want to tell us?"

"You can tell us, Gaara. After all, we're still your siblings. We have every right to know."

The owner of the first voice grabbed Gaara's shoulder quite rudely, prompting a nonplussed look on the Kazekage's face. As though the weather in Sand Village was not hot enough, the man was clad in a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of long pants, both being pitch-black. He had his face painted with thick purple lines that also formed the boundaries for his shifty eyes. His company was a lady in a kimono-like black dress that curled down almost reaching her sandaled feet. Holding a gigantic folding fan proudly in her arm, she placed her other arm on her hip and smirked knowingly.

Gaara spoke impassively, "Kankuro, Temari, I have something urgent to tell Sakura-san, but not to anyone of you."

"Ah, come on, Gaara!" Kankuro whispered with a whiny voice, "What's so urgent that you can tell an outsider but not to your siblings?"

Temari nodded with a teasing smile on her face, "We are all ears, Gaara. So tell us! Who's the lucky girl?"

If Gaara had eyebrows, he would have raised his eyebrows at both of his elder siblings.

"What exactly are you talking about, Temari?"

"Kankuro, kindly explain to him," The fan-lady ordered.

"Why is it always have to be me, Temari?" Kankuro, who had forgotten his arm on Gaara's shoulder, protested, "Who's the eldest here?"

"Obviously I'm the eldest, but you are a man, Kankuro," Temari debated, "Since both of you and Gaara are men, it should easier for you two to have a heart-to-heart talk."

"But aren't you girls more expertise in this _stuff_ than us men?"

A sudden realization then came to the Sand puppeteer, causing his thicker-than-usual purple lips to shape into a mocking grin at his elder sister,

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you're not a girl."

"KANKURO, YOU'RE GOING TO REGRET THIS!"

Gaara quickly bind his sister's large iron fan with sand on time, before she could unfold it to send their brother straight to kingdom come. Temari's signature weapon was shaking with devastating purple rage in the tight grip of Gaara's sand.

"No violence here," Gaara commanded, "You're actually disturbing the others enjoying the play. If you're not interested in watching it, please leave."

"Yeah," Kankuro finally let go of Gaara' shoulders and smiled at his hot-headed sister with jest, "You're an embarrassment to our village, Temari."

Gnashing her teeth at Kankuro for using Gaara's quote against her, Temari yanked her large fan away from the Kazekage's grasp and gave it a few angry shakes. Sakura, who had not spoken a word since the Sand Siblings' 'friendly reunion', watched the grains of dull yellow sand falling out of the dangerous-looking fan to the carpeted floor in pregnant silence. Wondering what 'stuff' Kankuro could be referring to, Sakura gave it a slight thought with her intelligent mind.

"Hmm…" Sakura's voice entered the conversation, "Well, Ino did say that Kazekage-sama has found himself a new girlfriend, but isn't it obvious that it's just a pathetic lie?"

Gaara narrowed his clear eyes at the kunoichi (female ninja), who hastily added with exaggerated gestures,

"Gomen(Sorry), Kazekage-sama! I mean no disrespect, but that's really what I heard from Ino."

Kankuro groaned like a hungry bear running out of honey, "See, Temari? I told you that girl was just making things up."

"Hmph!" Exasperated, Temari closed her eyes, before a disappointed sigh leaving her throat, "If our Gaara has a girlfriend to care for him…It's just too good to be true, isn't it, Kankuro?"

"Don't worry too much, for everyone's sake," replied Kankuro with a jealous gruff snort, "Gaara already has a few potential girlfriends going gaga for him…"

Gaara folded his arms on his chest, his face appearing stoic but his voice growing strict,

"And for my sake, Kankuro, stop talking. Don't disturb me watching the play. For your information, I don't have a girlfriend, and I don't plan to have one."

"Tell us if you have a special someone, okay?" Kankuro winked with a bright twinkle in his eye, "'Cause Temari can't wait to be an aunt."

"Let's go, Uncle Kankuro."

Still having an unsatisfied frown all over her reddening tigress-like face, Temari vanished along with Kankuro, with both of the Sand ninjas leaving behind hazy puffs of sand.

"Finally…" Gaara breathed out with relief, "Sakura-san, how can I ever repay your kindness?"

Sakura gave Gaara a blank look, struggling to register the reason why the Kazekage of the Sand Village had rewarded her with the words of appreciation. When she had finally realized it, her face went slightly pink with embarrassment and flashing a nervous smile,

"Oh, don't mention it! It was just a coincidence that Ino told me about you dating with some random girl, but hearing you said that, I'm more convinced that Ino is a 'big fat liar'."

"Ino is not a liar. It was purely a misunderstanding," Gaara explained without elaborating further.

"Oh," Sakura muttered with a voice weaved with faint disappointment, "I see…"

Gaara stared at Sakura with deep questioning eyes, his white scarf moving gently on his pure white Kazekage coat due to the calming sandy breeze. Noticing the quizzical gaze that she received from Gaara, Sakura looked down. In a reticent manner, the chunin forced out a sad smile,

"Kazekage-sama, when you said that you don't have a girlfriend and you don't plan to have one, it kind of reminded me of someone…important…"

"He'll come back," Gaara spoke reassuringly, "Have faith."

Sakura was rendered speechless. She had never thought that Gaara would know who she was talking about, but nonetheless, it was still a pleasant surprise. Her sorrowful green eyes lowered at her gloved-hands, which she then clenched with all her might. A new resolution replaced the pain and sadness in her hopeful eyes. She closed them thoughtfully and whispered loud enough to be heard by Gaara,

"Arigato-kuzaimas (Thank you very much), Kazekage-sama. I'll find him, even though he might not want to come back. Naruto and I will definitely bring him back to Leaf Village."

O O O

"Greetings!" An unnaturally-youthful voice from the grand stage came beating hard on Eva's eardrums, "May I find my princess who can fit into this glass slipper?"

Realising that it was her time to act, Eva perked up her ears and watched with her eyes wide open, as 'Cinderella's ugly step-sister' snatched the sparkling glass slipper away from Sasori's hand. She tried it on, but its size was simply too small for her large toe. Eva's late mother had read her the same fairy tale every single night before her tragic passing. Yet, that hilarious part had never failed to make Eva chuckle to her heart's content. Struggling hard to contain her silly laughter, she cupped her maiden lucid lips with her hand.

"This slipper can't fit me too! Stupid slipper!" The second step-daughter, who looked slightly prettier than her toady-faced sister, tossed the slipper back to Sasori.

A disappointed frown tainted the prince's delightfully-charming face, as he caressed the shiny glass slipper longingly. He was ready to make his move away from the quarrelling step-sisters, when a familiar angelic voice stopped him in his track.

"Let me try."

Eva gently sat on the small stool lying on the carpeted floor, facing the entire audience, as if the whole world was watching her and Sasori staring deeply and truly in each other's eyes.

"If you don't mind, my lady," Sasori smiled warmly. He bended on his right knee, as his hands then carefully took the dusty, almost-torn-apart shoe off Eva's right foot.

The dazzling crystal slipper effortlessly fit Eva's foot. Eva's heart jumped as soon as a round of applause was made by the large enthusiastic crowd.

Sasori held both of Eva's hands and pressed them tightly in his wooden ones, his words flowing out smoothly and meaningfully, "Would you marry me and be my queen, Cinderella?"

Eva knew perfectly well that Sasori had been faithfully following the script, but hearing the proposal straight from Sasori made her feel awkward and lost at words. She gaped at 'her prince' for a momentary moment. Her heart was beating alarmingly, not to mention that her cheeks were getting hot from the sweltering heat that she felt the instant Sasori 'asked for her hand'. Mustering all her courage to say her next line (however short it was), she announced as loudly as possible, especially to the watching audience,

"Yes," Eva smiled with 'tears of happiness' came flooding to her eyes, her throat painfully gulping down a lump of saliva.

She heard another generous round of applause. The performance was over. There was no need for her to act or pretend anymore. Feeling the weight of the whole world lifted off her shoulders, Eva was going to rise up…

When Sasori suddenly grabbed her and planted his lips full on hers.

Eva dilated her eyes with shock, her mind swirling to compute the odd feeling of fresh wetness on her lips into her brain. She wanted to scream for help but was crippled by the fear of ruining the performance. Her hands instinctively grabbed Sasori's shoulders and attempted to push him away, but every time she did that, he would pull her closer to his chest. The 'romantic' ordeal lasted for a minute or two, before the puppet master finally let go of Eva's lips.

"WHAT-ON-EARTH-ARE-YOU-DOING?" Eva flared up, her dainty fingers partially covering her completely drenched lips, "I remember perfectly well that the script didn't say we have to 'french-kiss'!"

"Following the script is basically lame. Spicing things up with our own creativity is always a better choice, un."

Eva could not believe her ears. She gasped with horror, as the maroon-haired man transformed himself into a younger blonde with a funny-looking pony-tail sticking out from his head. His sweetly sick smirk that lied underneath his long piece of golden hair was what Eva thought she would never have the chance to see again.

* * *

End of Chapter 17

* * *

**What do you think of this chapter? I hope that you like it. Unlike the earlier chapters, I had made plenty of adjustments in this chapter. It's funny that I did not plan that Sasuke would be 'mentioned' but yet, he 'plays a minor role' in this chapter. I hope that at least it fitted well with the flow of the story.**

**Wow, Chapter 17! And when I first started writng it, I thought that this story would end at its 5th Chapter! XD The future is so unpredictable!**


	18. Chapter 18:A Score To Settle

Chapter 18-A Score to Settle

Screams of terror filled the air almost immediately after the blonde Akatsuki made his 'debut' appearance. Yet, Eva remained silent, her teary eyes and mouth wide open, looking horror-stricken as if she had just seen a ghost. The sunshine that escaped freely from the open windows in the hall was gently reflecting on her eyes, making them sparkle like bright green crystals in the ghost's direction. Similarly to what she had vividly remembered, he was wearing the same black cloak with red dangerous clouds, which was a great silhouette to the whole bright atmosphere. It was like a bittersweet déjà vu to Eva; the 'ghost' was grinning in a silly way, his azure blue eyes beaming confidently at her as though he had done no wrong.

"Y-Y-You're…" Eva suddenly regained her voice back, "YOU TRICKED ME?"

Deidara smirked with total satisfaction, "I didn't trick you. You were taken in by my artistic acting, yeah. Right, Danna?"

"Your acting is artistic? Tsk! Don't make me laugh," a squeaky female voice grunted in reply.

The stout and grumpy girl, who had played the role of Cinderella's second step-sister, was standing near the long red curtain with arms crossed on _her_ bosom, _her_ thick eyebrows arching scornfully at Deidara. _She_ then made a brief eye contact with Eva, whose face grew ivory pale with a blend of puzzlement and fear of the unknown. Knowing how awkward it was for _her_ to speak in _her_ current disguise, _she_ made a quick hand-seal and disappeared, to return back as Sasori. He then smiled sheepishly.

"You're in this _too_?" Eva said, almost shouting.

"Me three!" The toady-faced actress near Sasori held her hand up high to the ceiling, before reverting back to _her_ original form: a man with a sweet orange mask, "Tobi's in this too, pretty lady!"

Hearing this, Eva felt like wanting to tear her beautiful silken hair off her scalp. How could she be so _stupid_ enough to be thinking that Deidara was already dead? How could she not know it that it was actually Deidara who had been acting with her on the stage, and not Sasori? All this time, she had been crying like hell, and for what? Nothing!

"You jerk-face!" Eva exploded, "You think playing dead is funny, is it? Since you're already 'dead', why do you even bother coming back? I'm not a 'Jimchukiri', or whatever you call it, so what _else_ do you want from me?"

Deidara slid his hand into his bag of clay hidden under his cloak, a mischievous smirk pasted on his boyish face, "Do you really need to ask? I want you to come with me, un."

"Minna-san (everybody), don't go, minna-san!" Tobi called out at the screaming audience, who were rushing in panic to the exit for their very lives, "Awww man! Tobi thought of giving them an encore!"

"So that you'll make fun of me again?" Eva shot a nasty look at Deidara, "Go play with yourself!"

Eva was more than ready to walk away in a hissy fit, when something swift caught her wrist. Without any warning, it pulled her back with such a great force that she was forced backward, causing her to trip and fall flat on her butt.

"Oww! What the heck-"

Eva winced in pain, as her eyes made effort to determine what had caught her wrist without her even knowing about it. She could not believe it at first, but what she saw made her stomach squirm; a large, disgusting and slimy centipede was coiled around her right wrist. Oddly enough, it was white in colour. She did not have to wonder where it came from for long. The artificial invertebrate was forming an unbreakable chain, connecting her wrist to Deidara's right palm. If the centipede did not look scary, Tobi would be more than willing to join in the tug-of-war.

"Hehehe…" That evil chuckle was the last straw for Eva, "You looked cute when you fell, un."

"Eeeeww! Let-me-go!" Eva tried to loosen the stubborn centipede, but with each tug she made, the vile creature tightened its grasp.

"Give it up! My art is made of clay of the finest quality, un. A pull as weak as that is the worst insult ever to my creations," Deidara chuckled, feeling more and more thrilled when he saw the desperate look on Eva's ashen face becoming more and more evident.

"If this pull is weak," Eva muttered back matter-of-factly, slightly panting, "I'll just have to pull stronger…"

"If you can, yeah," Deidara's smirk grew wider.

"No, I can't…"

Breathing out a defeated sigh, Eva closed her eyes. After a split second, she opened them up again with a new vengeance,

"But I can do this!"

Before Deidara could get what she meant, Eva scrambled to her feet off the carpeted floor. She sprinted off towards the stairs that led down to the audience hall. Deidara's mind was too preoccupied with Eva that he had totally forgotten about the clay 'rope', which was still attached to the drooling mouth on his hand. Immediately, he was pulled forward and…

_Bamm! _

Realised what had happened, Sasori wasted no time to whip out his chakra strings at Eva, who was just a short distance away from the door to freedom. The bluish puppet strings caught her like a fish. Eva stopped. The next thing she knew was she saw ominous purple mist clouding in front of her frightened eyes. The sweet-as-a-nectar gas passed through her sinuses and with immediate effect, her eyelids became heavier and heavier…

Deidara was still face-down on the stage, his ponytail sticking up to the spinning fan like a white flag. His long string of vulgar profanities was muffled by the soft red carpet. With a loud smack of resentment against the lush floor covering, he hoisted himself up and unconsciously sniffed. Still red-faced, Deidara touched his nostrils; he was surprised to see some silver red liquid on his fingertips.

The fall had not only broken his nose; it had also injured his male ego.

"Dei-sempai is falling down! Falling down! Falling down!" Tobi sang teasingly at one corner, unaware of his senior who was scowling nearby.

"Dei-sempai is falling down! My fair la-"

"KATSU!"

O O O

"The evacuation was a success, Kazekage-sama."

Gaara gazed thoughtfully at one of his turbaned men, ignoring the south wind that was beating restlessly against his cheeks. The fifth Kazekage was standing vigilantly on a rooftop, his long arms remained a determined cross upon his troubled chest, having a bad feeling that his man, as trustworthy as he was, may have overlooked. Staying alert on the sand tower that was standing high opposite the theater, Gaara had been checking to ensure that all villagers, either Sand or Leaf, had escaped unscathed from the no-longer-safe auditorium.

He had seen everyone except Eva leaving the building.

"You're wrong. I know someone's still there," Gaara spoke straightforwardly, a hint of uneasy playing in his husky voice, "I have to save her."

Gaara was going to jump off the tall tower, when a hand suddenly seized his shoulder from behind. Alarmed slightly, he quickly called upon his faithful sand to crush the enemy to smithereens.

"Gaara, what's wrong with you? You've never been this…_tense_."

Recognizing the voice that reached his eardrums, Gaara's head turned, his gleaming green eyes looking over his shoulder. It was none other than his elder brother, Kankuro. His jet black eyes were full of concern and worry, unlike the friendly and cheerful ones that Gaara had seen just a few minutes ago.

Kankuro added as confidently as possible, "If it's those three hooligans that you're worried about, me and Temari can back you up-"

"No," Gaara interrupted with finality, "You and Temari protect the villagers. Get them out of here at the first sign of explosions. I can handle the Akatsuki on my own."

A bulging sea of lines wrinkled Kankuro's forehead underneath his dark cat-eared hat, as he questioned apprehensively,

"Have you forgotten what happened to you when you tried to go one-on-one against that Akatsuki brat?"

"I haven't forgotten," Gaara undauntedly answered, "But even if I'll die, I'll die for this village."

There was a meaningful silence after that. Tight-lipped, Kankuro was pondering hard over the words that Gaara had just said. He did not know whether to call Gaara 'stubborn' or 'just plain stupid'. But one thing for sure, Gaara certainly had grown up. He was no longer a weapon to be feared or a tool to be used for wars. He was now a fine Kazekage, who was even better than their late father, in Kankuro's opinion. With a hint of proud smile, Kankuro sighed,

"I guess I can't make you change your mind. That's fine, but don't push yourself too hard, okay?"

Kankuro gave an encouraging pat on Gaara's shoulder, which then Gaara responded with an imperceptible polite nod. A brilliant idea formed in the Sand puppeteer's mind that maybe he should give his brother a hug to wish him good luck. But the bad and bloody past he had with Gaara made him have second thoughts. Kankuro cringed inwardly.

Oblivious to Kankuro's disturbing thoughts about him, the wordless Kazekage leaped forward and landed on his feet, facing the theatre's door, his wild mane of red hair swaying faintly. Once he opened the door, he would have to clean up the mess that he had left behind. After all, he had no one but himself to blame for sparing a wretched criminal's life.

Too focused in hatching a plan, Gaara did not realize that someone else was right behind him. It was then when she spoke, he knew that he was not entirely alone.

"Kazekage-sama," the female voice, determined but respectful, announced her arrival, "Please let me go with you. I have a score to settle with one of them."

O O O

Deidara's face changed colour to an eggplant's. Large veins stood out on his neck, as if they were about to burst at any moment. He was glaring at the hot chunks of 'Tobi' scattered on the burnt carpet, only to realize that they were not flesh; they were broken pieces of charred wood. An amateurish drawing was also left behind on the spot where Tobi had substituted himself with a timber. It was a silly picture of an orange-masked-kid giving a 'peace' sign, with his head having been drawn larger than his chopstick-like body.

"That idiot only knows how to piss me off, un," uttered Deidara, fed-up with his good-for-nothing disciple.

"Don't judge a book by his cover," Sasori warned, though his eyes steadily fixed upon Eva, who was sleeping peacefully in his wooden puppet arms, "You'll never know what lies behind that mask."

"Like how you used to hide in that disfigured old puppet, Danna?"

Sasori's patience was wearing thin, "Take her now before I change my mind, brat."

Deidara snickered, his special mouth munching another lump of clay, before shaping it into a small white pelican. He tossed it to the mid-air. With a puff of smoke, the model enlarged into a giant bird, which then went flying around the deserted hall with its wings spread wide. It dived to Sasori's way and grabbed Eva with its long bill. In a blink of an eye, Eva was no longer in his arms. Trying hard not to let Ken's tears come into his eyes, Sasori put up an unimpressed frown in order not to give away his emotions.

"Treat her right, Deidara, or I'll know where to find you," Sasori was sure that Ken had spoken those words, not him.

Deidara caught a glimpse of his clay pelican hanging in the air. Then he gave a smirk of a thousand and one meanings,

"I'll treat her real nice, if you for once admit that my art is the most supreme of all, un."

"How gullible can you be?" Sasori furrowed his thick maroon eyebrows, "I already told you. There is only one art in this universe- the kind of art that ages gracefully and continuously till eternity, with its essence fully preserved and immortalized. Come what may, true art can stand the test of time. That is _art_."

"Preserved art is boring, Sasori-no-danna. There must be some monumental changes experienced by the art itself. If not, the art is no different to a trash," Deidara explained, shaking his head sadly.

"Are you saying that my art is a _trash_, Deidara?" Sasori glowered at his former partner, his voice furious and ready-to-kill.

"I didn't say that," the bomb expert spoke casually, "but that's basically what I'm thinking, un."

"You _imbecile-"_

Fury dancing in his eyes, Sasori immediately held up both of his palms, each had a small hole in its centre. Instead of attacking Deidara, he shot a gush of water at the unknown projectiles that was charging fast towards them. The mysterious bullets plopped down, forming murky mud all over the vacant chairs. Sasori's face turned grave.

"Deidara, we got company."

* * *

End Of Chapter 18


	19. Chapter 19:Emotions

**First and foremost, thanks for the comments posted so far. They are the reasons why I'm so motivated and inspired to finish this story as quickly as possible. **

**Please don't get me wrong; I never wanted this story to end. I myself want to see what the ending of this story is. X3 Sometimes, I tend to change the original plots of my story, like this chapter. I never thought that I would write this chapter the way it is now.**

**Last but not least, happy reading! :D**

* * *

Chapter 19- Emotions

Eva's eyelids twitched, her dainty fingers making little movements. Feeling as if her head had been spinning after a wild ride in the roller-coaster, Eva strained hard to open her emerald eyes. She did not know why, but she could not see anything. She knew that she was lying down on something soft and comfy, which reminded her of her bed. Other than that, it was all pure blackness around her. Normally, she would have felt afraid, but for some reasons, she had lost every ounce of her strength to even feel a small pinch of fear.

"_Where am I? Why am I here?__ Why do I feel like I'm floating?" Eva's heart whispered weakly, "Am I…dead?"_

A wry smile played at her lips, her half-closed eyes staring hopefully at the endless darkness ahead, her soft black hair draping over her breasts, which were rising and falling in a peaceful rhythm. She would not mind being dead, if it would take her to see the people that she loved so dearly-her deceased parents. Sometimes she felt as though as they had never left, like they were still there to watch over her every step and to catch her if she were to fall. Eva had a dream that maybe, just maybe her parents had pretended to be dead (like Deidara) and then jumped out at her to shout, "April Fool!" Thinking that a dream would not be realized without plenty of sincere prayers to God, she went to the temple every single day without fail.

But in the end, it was all just a dream, because a dream would not be a dream if it came true.

Crestfallen, Eva gazed up, wishing that God was staring in her face to answer her one last plea, which she thought solemnly in her heart,

"_I know I've said this many times…but can I see my parents again?"_

"You again?" The God spoke to her, miraculously, "Heh! You really got the nerve to show me your face again after what you almost did to me, un."

Eva's heart jolted, her head hastily shaking 'no',

_"I didn't do anything! Well…I 'accidentally' killed a toad when I was five…but that's because it was ugly! I swear I didn't do anything else!"_

"Don't give me that face, ex-Jinchuuriki. You're making me puke, un."

Almost in tears, Eva buried her traumatized face in her cold and clammy hands, wondering why in the whole world she went to feed that disgusting creature with a bottle of beauty lotion. Her intention had always been noble: to transform the deformed-looking frog into a cute one, not to poison it.

"_Wait a sec… Why did the God speak like…" _

The infamous nasal sound 'un' was the only answer that Eva needed.

After mentally banging her head against an imaginary wall (_Deidara is God? Puh-leazzee!_) , Eva sat upright to inspect her dark surroundings. Quite hesitantly, she held her hands forward to feel whatever that was in front of her; it was a semi-solid wall, which was hard but not hard enough to endure a strong punch. Everything that she was going through in the spooky chamber was so familiar; it came to her at once that she had experienced all this before. The unpleasant smell of the material that was used to make the vessel also aroused a feeling of deja-vu in her.

"_That 'Stupid-ranked' criminal kidnapped me again,"_ Eva concluded morosely, before cocking her head up to look at the 'ceiling', _"That means he must be at the top…What-e-ver! I have to get out of here."_

Not caring anymore about her beautiful fingernails and manicure, Eva mustered every bit of her strength in her right fist. As her confidence built up, she boxed the clay wall and froze.

"_Ouch! My hand!__" Eva hissed painfully, "He really meant it when he said it's of the finest quality…"_

Face grimacing as a result of the painful sensation felt in her fingers, Eva bit her rosy bottom lip and pulled out her bruised hand from the newly-created hole. Light broke out rudely, blinding her naked eyes, which she was forced to cover with her hand. After adjusting her eyes to the bright light, she opened them and was delighted to see that the size of the hole was the exact size of her fist. Beaming with over-flowing pride, Eva moved her face closer to the hole and went to have a peek.

The first person she saw was Gaara.

O O O

"I don't care if you want to puke seeing my face. What business do you have here?"

Gaara stared daggers at Deidara, who was standing on the gigantic pigeon suspended in the air above the legendary puppet master, Sasori of The Red Sands. The Kazekage had predicted that Sasori would have been able to deflect his air bullets, yet he did not expect that his sand would be eventually drenched to a large pool of mud that smeared the floor and the chairs. Knowing that a battle was inevitable, Gaara reminded his new temporary partner, his gentle reminder sounding more like a strong suggestion,

"Sakura-san, get ready."

"Right!" Sakura nodded at Gaara's instruction, her black gloved hands held out in a fighting stance, "I'm ready."

Deidara flashed a curious look at the sight of the pink-haired kunoichi, "Ho? You must be the girl who killed Sasori-no-danna. You sure don't look that powerful, un."

"Like I said before, Deidara," Sasori's voice turned to steel, "You can't really judge a book by its cover. But if not for Chiyo-baa, that brat won't even last a second against me. Good thing that old hag's dead. I heard she had sacrificed herself for the resurrection of the Kazekage. What an idiot."

Sakura clenched her fists of fury, insulted by the words spoken by Sasori, "Chiyo-basama is dead, and that's all you have to say? Don't you feel any pain, sorrow, regret…anything at all?"

"Strangely, I do feel something," Sasori chuckled at the seemingly-stupid question, "I couldn't be happier to know about Chiyo-baa's passing. A useless old hag like her…No one would even care whether she lives or dies. Why choose to live a life that is not worth-living, if she can die in peace?"

"She can only be in peace…" Sakura's voice cracked with emotions, "If I help her to kill a grandson like YOU!"

Sakura suddenly dashed towards Sasori, concentrating all her chakra in her right fist, her emerald eyes went blazing like wild fire eating away her pupils. She jumped across the pool of mud. As she was aiming her deadly punch at her non-moving target, a voice abruptly shouted with a pained screech,

"SASORI! LOOK OUT!"

_Baaamm!_

Sakura crushed the grand stage into rubble, sending hot pieces of wood and metal flying and spewing out to the air. Deidara had managed to evade the powerful punch by keeping a safe distance away from Sasori, who was nowhere to be seen. Deidara's ponytail was unintentionally grazing against the high ceiling. A pang of loss and confusion was messing with his heart, as he turned to look down at the throat pouch of his pelican that he was riding on.

Deidara saw it all through a hole; Eva had her mouth cupped with her trembling hands, her face white, and her eyes brimming with tears…for Sasori.

Sensing the presence of chakra in the vicinity, Deidara's jealous eyes narrowed at the man standing stoically on the chandelier. Sasori looked as surprised as he was, both of his dark maroon eyes dilated at Eva, with his thin lips parted slightly. It would have been so humorous to Deidara, if not for the fact that Sasori's funny face was all for the wrong reason.

"Don't get all over-excited, Sasori-no-danna," Deidara seethed, "She's mine!"

After shooting Sasori a final glacier stare, Deidara turned away and threw a flock of sparrows to a far corner of the ceiling. The blonde shinobi detonated them with a single 'Katsu', and with the porcelain pelican, he zoomed furiously through the gap.

"Sakura-san!" Completely aware of what had happened, Gaara pressed his palms close to the ground, "I'm going after Eva-chan. Do what you must with Sasori."

"You can count on me, Kazekage-sama!" Sakura nodded rather confidently, as Gaara conjured a cloud of sand and took off with it.

Even though Gaara had already left the place, Sasori was still silent on the chandelier attached to the dirty brown ceiling, lost in his own thoughts as if the rest of the world did not matter to him anymore. His eyes were covered by his red soft hair, which were shaking a little.

"_I still have a__ place in your heart after all…" Sasori bit his puppet lips, unsure whether the pronoun 'I' was referring to Ken or Sasori._

Sakura was looking up at the puppet master with a puzzled face, her mind racing with questions that she herself could not answer alone. A glint of light brushed against Sasori's left cheek and fell down. The soft spark hit the dry ground, almost at Sakura's feet. A tiny pool of water formed on the sand briefly, before it seeped to the earth into non-existence.

"_D__-d-did…" Another burning question burst into Sakura's entangled thoughts, "Did Sasori just cry?"_

Sakura slowly jutted her chin up, staring up at Sasori with utter disbelief. The utter disbelief that she was feeling quickly turned to rude shock, when the puppet master had his eyes on her; the eyes that reminded Sakura much of Naruto's eyes- the eyes of a Jinchuuriki…

O O O

At the entrance to the Village Hidden in The Sands, a tall boy with sapphire blue eyes and whiskers on his cheeks was sprinting as fast as his legs could carry him, lines of sweat soaking his yellow eyebrows. The 'leaf' crest on his headband protector shined brightly under the glaring sun. Every eye on the street followed him with curiosity mixed with irritation for his high-pitched yelling voice.

"Hot water! Hot water!" Naruto barged through a group of angry housewives, who shot him dirty looks, "I can't be late for the play! Sakura's going to kill me, dattebayo!"

"Gotta come with a good excuse!" He raised his voice so high it squeaked, "I got lost in the path of life? Bahhhh! Why the heck I copied Kakashi-sensei's super-lame excuse? It's not like Sakura's going to believe me anyway!"

Still racking his brain for a believable reason for his extreme lateness, Naruto arrived at a corner of the path. He was going to turn right, when a huge white bird rammed into him. The collision caused Naruto to flip backward, his legs sticking vertically up to the sun. No longer had he received disapproval stares, because everybody was tickled to his or her funny bone and ended up laughing at him. Rubbing his sprained backside, Naruto jumped to his feet and shouted his lungs out at the disappearing bird,

"Hey! Watch where you're going, baka! Next time, you won't be so lucky, believe it!"

Naruto was going to turn behind when he spotted a brown giant cloud swishing above him. It was racing towards the white bird, and Naruto recognized the cloud rider immediately.

"GAARA! COME BACK! I WANNA GO TOO, DATTEBAYO!"

* * *

End of Chapter 19


	20. Chapter 20:Art is a Bang!

Chapter 20-Art is a Bang!

The unforgivable sun in the desert was scorching Deidara's skin, as he and his pelican were flying away from the Sand Village. Strong hot breezes whipping against his red-hot cheeks, his blonde bang flitted at his sweating face at all directions. Once in a while, Deidara would turn behind to check if Gaara was still on his tail. But to his pleasant surprise, the pain-in-the-neck Kazekage went missing after they were making their way out of the village.

"So much for being persistent, un," Deidara snorted with intention to mock, pausing for a while before glaring through his pelican's throat pouch.

As though responding to his glare, a somewhat-pleading voice came from the said throat, "Deidara, could we-"

"Turn back to where we started to get Sasori-no-danna?" Deidara continued the incomplete sentence with an air of anger, "Is that what you're going to say, un?"

No answer. Deidara gritted his teeth murderously.

The life-like pelican opened its bill as if taking Deidara's cue. He jumped into the mouth and landed on the clay floor on his feet effortlessly. His bloodshot eyes pierced through the total darkness, particularly at Eva who was sitting silently, her arms hugging her knees. Eva looked at Deidara as if he was nothing, and continued to mope.

"Is he that important to you, un?" Deidara questioned demandingly.

Eva muttered a soft tone, still staring at her own feet, "We don't have to turn back if you don't want to."

"You haven't answered my question yet, baka!" Deidara's dangerously-loud voice echoed in the blindness of the chamber.

"I have the right to remain silent!" Eva suddenly erupted with her luminous green eyes started to glower at her captor, "For your information, Sasori (Ken) and I have been friends for many years. That's why he's so important to me. If you can't accept that simple fact, go to hell!"

Deidara forcefully wrenched Eva's arm and pulled her up off the floor, forcing her to look into his icy cold eyes. A crippling fear caught Eva's heart, as she saw red veins popping in those eyes.

"Don't try to test my patience, wretch! Just because you're a chick doesn't mean I'm not going to blow you up!" Deidara growled.

"Blow me up then!" Eva retaliated, struggling hard not to betray a hint of fear in her voice, "I'm not afraid of you, jerk-face! I _dare_ you to lay a finger on me!"

All of a sudden, Deidara pushed Eva and pinned her to the nearest wall, his hand on her slender neck. Eva winced, feeling as if she had broken a rib or two. With her back against the wall, she strained to raise her eyes at Deidara, whose face was so close to hers that she could feel him breathing her.

"Now," Deidara spoke under his breath, "Are you afraid of me, un?"

"Not even a bit," Eva tried hard to keep her voice calm.

"How about this, un?"

Eva got the shock of her life when she felt something soft and tender caress her lips. Heart beating amazingly fast, she tried to push Deidara away but his hands already wrapped around the curves and tunnels of her lush body. When every struggle and protest she did was futile, Eva closed her eyes tight, getting goose-bumps when she felt hands moving down her back as the kiss got deeper. She let her hands rest on his shoulders with a little hair pull. Breathing became a strenuous chore, but she did not ever want to let him go.

Although the world of ninjas still did not make much sense to Eva, this one seemed to make sense…

After seemed as if it would last forever, Deidara stopped. He pushed Eva to a corner, with her almost crashing against the wall. She fell with a loud thud onto the cold floor. Moaning slightly, Eva threw Deidara a questioning look, when…

"RASENGAN!"

A blinding blue ball of light barged through the wall and hit Deidara in the heart.

"AARRGGHHH!"

Naruto, who was holding the chakra ball in his hand, was focusing all his energy to increase the damage caused by the merciless rotation.

"DON'T HURT HIM!"

Eva burst in tears, her hands reaching out to save the already half-dead Akatsuki. Her effort was ceased to be, as someone pulled her away from Deidara and grabbed her waist. Eva felt a hand touching her bottom; she quickly realized that she was carried with a protective pair of arms, in a bridal-style manner.

"Tricked you again, un," Deidara gave a sly smile.

With Eva in his arms, Deidara jumped out through the hole that Naruto had created. He landed on another bird, this time a hawk, which he had managed to produce at the spur of the moment. Bluntly, he placed a very confused Eva at his feet. Deidara's porcelain hawk obediently flew to a spot in the golden sky away from the damaged pelican, and remained hovering there according to Deidara's sheer desire. An evil glint twinkled in his right eye, as a cocky smirk complete with an arched eyebrow decorated his handsome face.

"This will teach you not to mess with me, un," Deidara looked sideways at Eva, while his fingers formed a flawless hand-sign, "Geijustu wa…BAKUHATSU DA! (Art is a…BANG!) KATSU!"

_Boom!_

Eva witnessed the pelican explode into red flames of destruction with a horrified expression on her pale-as-a-ghost face.

"Y-y-you killed Naruto!" Eva stuttered.

"That Jinchuuriki was a clone, baka," Deidara explained nonchalantly, "I thought Tobi was a pure idiot, but you are worse than- ughh!"

Deidara's hand suddenly clutched at his stomach. The excruciating pain came from the organ forced his legs to bend down, unable to carry his own weight anymore. A thin river of crimson liquid flowed down at the corner of his lips. After forcing his throat to swallow the bitter liquid in his mouth, he wiped the red stain off with the back of his hand, and then gazed curiously at Eva; She apparently had looked away with arms crossed over her chest.

"I'm not going to fall for that again, jerk-face!" Eva stuck her tongue out at Deidara.

Amused in an ironical sense, Deidara chuckled softly, "I really am…injured. If you can't tell…I'll show you, un."

Deidara slowly zipped down his Akatsuki cloak and lifted his black fish-net shirt up. His abdomen was fully bandaged. The white cloth was stained with a dark red spot, where his stomach should have been. Seeing the dumbfounded look on Eva's face caused Deidara to smirk with morbid satisfaction.

"That cursed Kazekage…did this to me…in the last fight, un," Deidara's misty eyes squinted painfully, "Whereby I should have…been in the bed for…another one more _week_..."

"Are you out of your mind?" Eva cried out with tears threatening to surface in her eyes, "You shouldn't have come! You should have stayed in the bed-"

"And let Sasori-no-danna...convert you into…a cold mindless puppet…un?" Deidara chewed on his lips violently, "I won't let him…touch you…not with his…fake…filthy…puppet hands…because I…"

Deidara's bloody right hand reached out to touch the heart-breaking tears on Eva's cheeks weakly, "Because…I…I like…"

"Sabaku kyu! (Sand coffin!)"

A huge hand of sand suddenly pulled Deidara's foot. The injured Akatsuki was dragged to the edge of his hawk, the uneven texture of his clay grazing against his damaged stomach, creating a trail of fresh blood along the way. Deidara nearly fell to his death, until a pair of hands caught his right hand. He looked up blankly at the blurry image.

"I won't let you go!" Eva's shouting voice cracked, "I've lost you once! I can't lose you again! I won't let you die, Deidara!"

The mention of the word 'die' made Deidara to look down at the vast desert of hell below him. A monstrous mouth, complete with sharp fangs and a tongue, was waiting hungrily at the bottom for its prey. The sand tongue was tied around Deidara's left leg like a frog's tongue catching a small fly. A boy in red and grey was somewhere in the distance; his hands were clearly placed on the sand, as if preparing to execute his final jutsu.

It came to Deidara's realization that Gaara's steely-determined eyes never swayed away from his. The Kazekage wanted him dead badly.

Furthermore, Deidara knew that slowly but surely, his weight was pulling Eva closer to the edge, to the brink of death.

If he had to do it, he had to do it now.

"If you don't release…my hand," Deidara wished he had not said this, "I'll…bite you, un."

Although Eva was surprised at first, she later uttered stubborn words of her own,

"Bite me if you can. Didn't I say I'm not afraid of you- aackk!"

Eva closed her eyes painfully, prompting hot tears to drip out and sprinkle onto Deidara's ashen cheeks. The Akatsuki's hand-mouth exerted more pressure in its teeth, when the strength of Eva's grip on his hand remained unaffected. In fact, it just made her hold his hand tighter.

"I'll…break your finger…if you don't…do as I say…un," Deidara grinded his teeth threateningly.

Eva replied with pain written clearly on her reddening face, "I rather…lose all my fingers…than losing you…Deidara."

Deidara's eyes went bewildered. An odd gush of happiness and ecstasy flowed in his veins, though he was slightly baffled. He knew that he had bitten Eva's palm until it bled; why didn't she let go? _Why?_

The blonde pony-tailed man stopped biting; instead, he pulled his right sleeve down to his shoulder, revealing a neatly-stitched arm.

"You leave me…with no…choice…un," Deidara muttered gravely, bringing his left palm close to the stitches on his upper right arm. The tongue in his mouth waggled excitedly. It sank back into its mouth, before allowing the pearly-white teeth to flash with strange morbid delight.

"Deidara," Eva's face went white, "What are you doing?"

Deidara's teeth caught the first stitch that it reached and...

_Cut!_

"Even if I die…it was fun…being with you…un."

With those words being his last, Deidara fingered the broken string that attached his broken arm and pulled. As though it was Sasori's puppet arm, his whole right arm detached completely from his shoulder…

"DEIDARA!"

* * *

End of Chapter 20

**Like it? Hate it?(Which I hope not XD) Please tell me what you think! This chapter was not done according to the original plan, so I'm kind of nervous about it. **


	21. Chapter 21:Soft Whisper of Love

Chapter 21-Soft Whisper of Love

"DEIDARA!"

The poignant crying voice shattered Gaara's concentration on his mission to pieces. With hands still touching the hot sandy ground, his pupil-less greenish eyes darted towards the source of the painful scream, Eva, who was being flown away by Deidara's clay hawk towards the horizon. As her ear-splitting cries for Deidara was fading away till she was out of sight, Gaara felt a sudden, strange heartache in his left chest. He felt as though something precious was being taken away from him, and he was never to see that precious thing again.

Gaara had never felt this way before, which made it so much harder for him to identify what had caused him to feel this way…

"Hey lady!" A Naruto clone went chasing after the criminal hawk, "Stop the bird, dattebayo! I'm coming to save you!"

"Gaara, don't look at my shadow clone! Look there, dattebayo!"

The real Naruto, who was standing just behind Gaara, pointed at a beautiful white phoenix; it was hovering above where Deidara should be buried, its large and colourless wings flapping steadily, slowly bringing itself up away from the 'perfect burial ground'. Though appeared pale and out-of-breath, Deidara was dangling in the air, barely falling to his own death- into the hole of doom. His sole remaining hand held onto the phoenix's scaly feet tightly, as tightly as Gaara's sand looped around his foot. However agonizing it was to move his face muscles, Deidara curled his bruised lips into a smirk of a proud artist.

"My art…is not to be…taken lightly, un."

"Your art is none of my concern," Gaara replied tersely.

Deidara raised his eyebrows with mock surprise, "Oh…really? If that's the…case…you'll be very…concerned…after this…un."

Gaara thought that there was something terribly wrong, when Deidara took a large bite of his phoenix's foot. As if it was a tasty piece of chewing gum, the blonde terrorist chewed the chunk of clay steadily, with strange determination to make each grinding of his teeth count. Before Gaara could react to what he was seeing, Naruto shouted so loud his voice could be heard in the space,

"This is bad! He's gonna explode! We got to get the hell out of here!"

"Too late…un," Deidara sniggered through a mouthful of half-ingested clay, "But rest assured…you'll die beautifully…and painless- ARRGHHH!"

"SPIT IT OUT, WILL YOU?"

Naruto leaped for the second time and gave Deidara another hard punch in the wounded stomach; the massive impact caused Deidara's eyes to water and his mouth to cough out a thick gob of red liquid, but no bomb came out. Panting with deep frustration, Naruto mustered all his chakra into his right fist. The genin was going to box Deidara again, when the latter's body began to expand itself like a puffer fish going on a berserk, lumps appearing here and there on his growing body. Naruto's lips went trembling at the edges, with his eyes confounded.

"HE'S BLOATING!"

Naruto sprinted away like the wind, his head turning behind to look at the seemingly-unaffected Kazekage, "Gaara, what are you doing? He's going to blow us up, dattebayo!"

"Is that all you got?"

Deidara's eyes went up with bewilderment at Gaara's tone. Before he knew what went wrong with his ultimate art, a monstrous cluster of sand pounced on him from above.

_Bam!_

Gaara's sand slammed Deidara down into the earth, deep down into the depths of oblivion, along with his mangled phoenix.

"We did it, Gaara!"

Dashing towards his Kazekage friend, Naruto yelped with joy and relief, "That was close! That scum almost got us killed, datteba-"

_BOOM!_

A sudden tremor rocked the desert, with grains of sand spurted out into the cloudless orange sky, forming beautiful parabolic patterns like a fountain. The scenic view ended with the yellow grains crashing back onto the burning desert. Gaara watched the breath-taking view with deliberate ignorance; his feet remained sturdy onto the ground, his arms nevertheless crossed over his chest, not at the very least disturbed by the brief earthquake. When the sandy miasma cleared off, Gaara saw someone out at the corner of his eyes.

Naruto, who was lying on the ground, was coughing badly and at the same time, digging his throat with an index finger. It was his attempt to get the accidentally-swallowed sand out of his irritated throat. When he noticed that Gaara was staring at him, he quickly scrambled to his feet, hoping that the Kazekage had never seen him trip face-first a moment ago. With an earnest smile on his ever-cheerful face, Naruto walked briskly to Gaara.

"I can't wait to tell the others, Gaara!" Naruto pumped his fist into the air with excitement, "That scumbag's dead! He's gone for good, dattebayo!"

"Not yet," Gaara's deep voice stressed on his words.

The Kazekage could still feel breathing underneath his feet, although the person who was still breathing may already be half-dead. His emotionless jade eyes marked the ground, as he raised his foot high and brought it down…

O O O

"_Unlike an injury to the body, there is no medicine to the wounded heart, and sometimes it never heals. Only one thin__g that can heal a wounded heart- love."_

"_I may have found __someone who loves me for who I am, Yashamaru."_

Gaara held firmly to the vanilla ice-cream in his right tiny hand, his teddy-bear in his left arm. His green, round and still-innocent eyes were gazing longingly at the twinkling stars that dotted the night sky. Sometimes he wondered whether his mother was one of those stars watching over him from above. Would he still be alone, if his mother was alive? He looked down sadly at his own hands, but realized that the snowy ice-cream had begun to melt. Heart pumping fast, Gaara quickened his pace, running down the street to the heart of Village Hidden in The Sands.

_Tuk! Tuk! Tuk!_

After knocking on the door, Gaara was waiting with anticipation at the doorstep. His serene smile was carved clearly on his round angelic face. But that smile wore off immediately, because the person who opened the door gave him a cold disdainful frown.

"Oh, it's you," The brown-haired boy scanned Gaara from head to toe, and the snow white ice-cream in his hand caught his eye.

Gaara remembered that it was the same boy from the playground. The said boy, who was around his age, had short messy brown hair, his eyes caramel brown in colour, his skin tanned, his lips pursed into his mouth with intense annoyance and scorn. He was wearing the same scarf around his neck like Gaara's pure white scarf, except that the former's was dirty yellow in colour. It was all clear that he was not that fond of talking to Gaara, but Gaara decided to start a friendly conversation. He decided to give it a try, no matter how much he was afraid of being rejected.

"H-h-hello, how are you?"

"Nobody wants you here," The boy stated matter-of-factly, "Go away!"

"W-w-wait!" Gaara forestalled the boy from closing the wooden door, as he hesitantly held out the vanilla ice-cream at the boy's face as an explanation, "I didn't mean to disturb you. I…I just want to give Eva-chan…this…"

"Who are you to call her Eva-chan?" The tall boy barked, his burly hand pushing the ice-cream off Gaara's hand, "And this is _poison_!"

Hot tears pooled at the corner of Gaara's black-rimmed eyes. He looked down ruefully at the ice-cream lying broken on the cold sand, his lips quivering as he was taking in the cold harsh fact that he was never meant to be loved. Gaara dropped his teddy-bear, knowing that a stuffed doll could never replace a human being to be a friend.

"What have I done wrong? Why do you…h-h-hate me?" Gaara asked chokingly.

Ignorant to the fresh tears plopping against the ground, the boy grabbed Gaara by his scarf. He looked at him square in the eye, his high nose almost touching Gaara's.

"I just hate seeing your pathetic face, you jinx! Do me a favour and scram!"

With a final cold-blooded stare, the boy pushed Gaara with the sole intention to make him fall. But before Gaara even touched the ground, a cushion of sand automatically caught him, preventing the fall that seemed so inevitable. The boy became speechless; his mind was too perplexed that he could not see someone had rushed out from the sand cottage and ran past him.

"Gaara, are you okay?"

Gaara could not help but to stare blankly at the girl who had spoken to him.

Her bright emerald eyes were dazzling with genuine concern, as her hand picked up his arm from the sand barrier and gently lifted him up back to his feet. Instead of having her black silken hair tied into a ponytail like she had during that evening in the playground, she let her hair flow freely down to her midriff. She also had a thick book under her left armpit. Unlike the boy, she had never failed to smile warmly.

The girl in white pyjamas was so beautiful and kind Gaara thought he had just been rescued by his guardian angel.

"Stop being so mean to him, Ken!" Eva took her story book from her armpit and hit Ken hard on the head, "You're a big bully, you know that?"

Ken rubbed his head with his hand, an unsatisfied frown tainting his dashing face, "Why do you have to be so nice to him, Eva?"

Eva gave a playful smug, "Because I'm a nice person! I'm not like you, grumpy bum!"

When Eva started to argue with him, there was no way he was going to win. Ken breathed out an exasperated sigh.

"Suit yourself…"

Not uttering another word, Ken entered back into the house, the sound of his footsteps fading away as Eva waited for complete silence.

"Yay, we got rid of that grumpy bum!" Eva held her hand out in the air to be clapped, "Come on, Gaara! Give me five-"

Eva's merry voice was suddenly interrupted by loud sniffing sound. She had not realized that Gaara was still crying, albeit silently. Putting all the blame on Ken, she picked up the lonely teddy bear that she had just noticed from the brown floor. She dusted the sand and dirt off the cute-and-cuddly doll with a hand, before focusing her sympathetic eyes on Gaara.

"Hey, don't cry. You don't look cute anymore if you keep crying."

Smiling comfortingly, Eva took out a pink handkerchief from her pocket. She dabbed on Gaara's sore eyes with the soft cloth, trying to wipe his tears away. She had also tried to wipe his black rings off his eyes, but even when she rubbed harder, the rings stayed there like Gaara was born with them.

"_Wow, this ink is really permanent!"_ Eva thought with astonishment filling up her eyes, _"Awesome!'_

"Y-y-you're not afraid of me?" Gaara suddenly broke the meaningful silence, his eyes wet with hopefulness.

Eva burst into a silly giggle, "Why should I be afraid of you? It's not like you're a man-eating monster or a teddy-eating monster…"

As Eva placed the teddy bear back in Gaara's arms, he could feel her hand brushed against his, as it was a soft whisper of love. Shaking his head a few times, Gaara muttered sadly,

"But I am a monster…"

"No, you're not a monster! Let me show you...hold on a sec…"

Eva opened her book and flipped urgently through it, before stopping at a page. On the page, five colourful fairies were shown crowding around a baby's cradle. Only one stood far end at the open door; her robe was black, but not as black as her face, which was full of hatred.

"See this?" Eva pointed at the Black Fairy, "She is a monster! You know what she did?"

Gaara shook his head innocently.

"She turned into a huge dragon to kill the prince, so that he won't be able to save the princess. Isn't she _cruel_?" Eva's finger unconsciously stabbed at the female villain, smearing her face with a small fingerprint.

"Did that dragon kill him?" Gaara questioned with a hint of suspense.

"Eva!" A matron voice came booming from the house, "Come inside! It's getting late!"

"I'm coming, Mommy!" Eva answered back, before turning to Gaara, "I'll tell you the ending tomorrow, but the point is no matter what other people say, never, never, _ever_ think that you're a monster, because you're not!"

Eva closed her children's book and added, "You got that?"

Still unsure of what he had heard, Gaara gave a nod with an appreciative smile spread across his face.

"That's what I want to see!" Eva cheered by clapping her hands together, "So I'll see you later, panda-eyes! Goodnight!"

Gaara's heart skipped a heartbeat or two, when Eva gave him a light peck on his cheek. Noticing how Gaara reacted to the goodnight kiss, Eva giggled with a dainty hand over her mouth. After waving to Gaara goodbye, she left for her house and closed the door shut.

Gaara clung to his heart with his hand; a soft glow settled down in his left chest, making him feel warm and fuzzy inside all of a sudden. No one else had given him that kind of feeling before, not even his father, not even his own siblings, and not even Yashamaru…

"_What kind of feeling is this, Yashamaru?"_

O O O

The Kazekage was clutching at his heart, placing his foot back onto the floor without making any violent stomp. He knew that by smashing his foot against the spot, it would be the end for the terrorist bomber. There would be one less criminal from the face of this earth. Being the Kazekage who had died in the hands of the Akatsuki, he was well aware that someone like Deidara was a very dangerous man, maybe too dangerous for Eva to be with…

"_No, t__his mission had gone too personal,"_ Gaara thought with a tinge of regret.

All this time, he had been carried away of exterminating the blonde Akatsuki, whom he thought was very capable of hurting Eva. He only wanted Eva to be safe.

But Gaara realized that maybe killing that criminal would just hurt Eva more than anything.

Moreover, if Eva was the princess, Deidara was the prince…

"_Must I be the monster?"_

"Eiiiii!" Naruto's high-pitched voice crashed rudely into Gaara's train of thoughts, "You're not doing any damage to him, dattebayo! You got to concentrate more chakra in your foot-"

"I'm back!"

Naruto was astounded to see his own shadow clone, who was in pursuit after Eva, was already right behind him. The clone's sweaty face was gloomy and dark, added by the colour of the black-and-blue patch on his left eye.

"You're not supposed to be alone! Where's that girl?" The original Naruto interrogated.

"She must have thought I'm the enemy! When I was about to reach her, she gave me _this_!" The clone pointed at his swollen eye angrily, "I mean like…come on! Don't you want to be saved, lady? Someone got to send her to a mental hospital immediately, dattebayo!"

"Maybe she doesn't want to be saved," Naruto replied, his fingers scratching his non-itchy yellow head, "You know, she did _cry _when that scumbag was falling down..."

"Naruto," Gaara tried to change the subject, "There's a new ramen shop near my office. Let's have our dinner there."

The two genins stared at the Kazekage, as though he had gone mental.

"You mean like- NOW?"

"Demo-" (But-)

"It'll be my treat," Gaara nodded.

Both Naruto's eyes lighted up at the mere mention of the magic word 'treat'. Forgetting all about accomplishing the mission, Naruto made his clone vanish and yapped excitedly,

"I want extra pork on top, Gaara! Whoever gets there first gets the first bowl, and I'm going to win no matter what, believe it!"

Without waiting for Gaara, Naruto sprinted off in the direction of Sand Village, the long black ribbons of his headband flying behind him. Gaara watched him go, before setting his gleaming green eyes at the orange sun sinking down past the horizon. His intense red hair was rustling gently in the warm breeze. He brought his lean fingers slowly to his forehead, touching the scar with his fingertips, feeling the word like how he had felt it in his heart. After giving a final meaningful glance at the beautiful sunset, Gaara summoned his cloud of sand and jumped onto it. He then headed straight back to his home.

"_Thank you for everything, Eva-chan. We'll meet again." _

* * *

End of Chapter 21

**This has to be the longest chapter** **I've written! I was catching my breath when I wrote that last line. XD **

**Don't forget to review!^^**


	22. Chapter 22:Glass Slipper

**I'm sorry for the late update. My school just has just started...and you get my point. XD But I'll try my best to work on my story every now and then. I hope that you like this one, and happy reading!^^**

* * *

Chapter 22-Glass Slipper

"Tobi loves the stars! The stars love Tobi! Tobi loves the stars!"

A man with a bright orange mask was singing chirpily in the desert with arms spread wide open, his sandaled feet kicking sand around as he was scampering like a child who had eaten too much sugar. The deep blue, crystalline sky was brilliant with stars, which luminance was bathing on Tobi's swirled mask. Cold and crisp wind blew at his mask, ruffling his short black hair as he ran, his cloak flapping behind like a superman's cape. He had never been so free before; his 'sempai' had always preferred him to be 'cool and silent' than 'fun and happy', so being around his senior was not always one of his most favourite moments…

Not to mention that it was definitely stressful and scary to be his sempai's full-time partner.

"Phew!" Tobi came to a stop and huffed, his back arching down slightly with hands on his knees, "Tobi never thought…running could be so tiring…"

The Akatsuki member was resting, but not without being distracted by a golden plant growing at his feet.

"Eh! What's this?"

As curious as a cat, Tobi quickly squatted down in front of the mysterious plant. His heavy breathing calmed down at the sight of the unusual-coloured plant. He poked it cautiously with his gloved index finger as a safety precaution; it was so soft and smooth that Tobi liked touching it.

"Tobi knows what this is!" Tobi's left eye shone with admiration, "Golden Grass! It must be the new species Zetsu-san keeps talking about! Zetsu-san will be so happy!"

Tobi's shriek of pure excitement echoed in the vast grey-yellowish desert. Feeling over the moon at the illogical thought of making Zetsu cry with tears of happiness, Tobi made a glorious attempt to pull the rare plant out with all the might that he could muster. He pulled harder and harder. But still, it stuck there like a stubborn elephant that just would not move even an inch.

"Ah, it stuck!" Tobi pouted sulkily, before a bright bulb popped up on his head, "Ah-ha! Tobi knows what to do!"

With an eager grin flashing under his mask, Tobi took out a pair of scissors from under his Akatsuki cloak. The sharp scissors were shining with a bright twinkle under the watching pale moon, as Tobi cut the dusty air into imaginary smoky shreds with it. Once he was totally satisfied with his 'rehearsal', he brought his brand-new pair of scissors down to the poor tiny plant, giggling to himself,

"Tobi is a genius, tehehe…"

As Tobi was about to cut off the plant, a hand suddenly shot up. It caught Tobi's neck skillfully, clogging his throat until he could not breathe. Pale grey sands burst out and sprinkled vigorously into the still air, when a dark foreboding figure sprang up from the ground in the blink of an eye. He pinned the suffocated Tobi to the hard earth with his bare hand, as if attempting to squash him alive. Tobi strained to open his one eye; the eyes that he saw were as bloody red as hot volcanic lava.

"Touch my hair…again…and I'll…slit your throat…with those…scissors, un!" Deidara tightened his grip on Tobi's burning throat, "Tell me, Tobi….Where's Eva?"

"C-c-can't tell…cause y-y-you're…choking…m-m-me…"

"This better…be good, Tobi," Deidara warned with a scowl. He let go of his partner, who was then immediately gasping for air.

"She is…" Tobi spoke between in painful coughs, "Tobi don't know…She didn't…tell Tobi where…she was, Sempai."

"Bwahhhh-Acckk!"

Tobi's eye dilated in agony. His hands hastily reached for the hand that was strangling his neck. He struggled to pull it away to catch another necessary breath of air, but the strength of his 'sempai' was more than he could handle.

"Today shall be…the last day you…call me 'Sempai', un!"

"I-i-it's the…t-t-t-truth," Tobi voiced out pleadingly, "T-t-tobi's…h-h-honest…S-s-sem-"

Tobi's next words were abruptly drowned by an ear-deafening female scream, which sounded like it came from the vicinity. Deidara perked up his ears at the familiar voice; the name 'Eva' came to his mind. Grimace of worry and concern began to develop on his bruised face. Forgetting all about his teary-eyed-disciple who was crying for mercy, Deidara started to stagger off in search for the voice's owner.

"How come…Deidara-sempai likes…choking game so much?" Tobi coughed out in a complaining tone, "Tobi hates this game!"

O O O

"My…glass slipper…"

Eva's mournful voice began to crack, her misty emerald eyes falling upon the shards of glasses that were glittering silently on the coarse sand. Behind her was the gigantic porcelain hawk that she had ride on, all broken and dented, which had crash-landed when she tried to make it land properly and gracefully. Seeing there were no brakes attached to the bird, Eva made a risky decision to tear off one of its wings. The risk was unarguably high, but she knew she had to take the risk; she did not want to continue the journey that she could not be sure of the destination.

But she did not expect that the rough landing would cost her most cherished present from her parents. The glass slipper had slipped off her foot, before she could even lay a finger on it to catch it.

Like how she had failed to save Deidara...

"_Are you afraid of me, un?"_

The line played again and again in Eva's head like a broken recorder, yet she hoped that it would never stop playing. She squeezed her eyes tight, feeling the warmth radiated by the tears that silently streaming down her cheeks. She hugged Deidara's limp arm close to her chest. Her lips trembled faintly, miming the words which she thought of but were not actually spoken,

"_I'm only afraid when you're not here with me, Deidara."_

"Hey…you're okay, un?"

Eva shouted tearfully in a fit of anger, "You're asking me if I'm okay? I'm far from okay! I'll never be okay! Would you just leave me alone?"

Eva turned behind to see who was talking to her, but what she saw made her freeze.

Deidara was walking slowly in her direction with a limp. When he noticed that Eva was embracing his broken left arm, his eyes were filled with bewilderment mixed with excitement; what kind of girl who would be bold enough to touch a bleeding limb? Guessing that perhaps Eva was too distraught that she could not even think properly, Deidara let an amused smirk played sheepishly at the edge of his cut lips. He was too engrossed with the humorous thought that he did not see Eva's eyes were glowing, thickened with tears.

"I know that's my arm, yeah…But you know…how disgusting it looks…when you hold it that way, un?"

In furious reply, Eva threw the limp arm back to Deidara, aiming for his face. Deidara did not see it coming; he did not move a muscle to dodge that attack, but he did not have to. His arm flew past above him, before dropping onto the grey sand with a dull thud. If Deidara was not biting his lips violently, he would have died laughing at that pathetic throw.

"What the heck is your freaking problem, un?" Deidara shouted beyond his capability, and the stress he put in his voice added much pain to his excruciatingly-painful stomach.

"My problem?" Eva shot back with hand placed on her blood-stained chest, "Who's the one keeps playing dead like he's a freaking possum? Why don't you just drop dead for once?"

Deidara keeled over at once, as though he was obeying Eva's command.

"Nice try, but even my Chi-hua-hua can do better than that!" Eva shouted at the body sprawling motionlessly on the ground.

When Deidara did not move, not even make a flinch, Eva could not help but to think that something was amiss. Heart beating so fast that it might just burst, Eva raced towards Deidara. She carefully rolled him over to see his face; it was so pale that it looked like he was running out of blood. His eyes were shut tight, but Eva was sure that he was not sleeping. Out of fear, she slowly moved her forefinger to his nostrils. To her huge relief, he was still breathing…

Which meant that he was still alive…for now…

"Deidara, wake up," Eva lightly slapped his face, "I was just kidding! Do you really have to take me seriously?"

Deidara's head tilted slightly to the right but remained still after that. A sea of worried lines creased Eva's forehead; she knew that Deidara's life was no more a joking matter. He had to be taken to the hospital immediately…

"_That man you're associating with is a S-ranked criminal and had been listed in the Bingo book. Surely you don't think of bringing him to the hospital, do you?"_

"_Deidara is sort of…different. You know we can't bring him with us."_

"_He infiltrated my village. He also threatened the safety of my people by attempting to blow this village up. Don't you see how __crazy__ this man is?"_

Eva bit her lips hard, hoping that every piece of advice playing repeatedly in her brain would just fade away and leave her alone. Somehow, she felt as though the three voices combined forces to push her to do something she did not want to do, with everything around her go spinning in a three-hundred-and-six-degree rotation for a better effect. But she was determined enough not to worry about that dizzy feeling as minor as that. It was all just a silly figment of imagination.

Eva held Deidara's hand in hers and gave it a gentle assuring squeeze.

"Hang on, Deidara. I'll go get help," Eva muttered softly at Deidara's ear.

No matter how much she did not want to let go of Deidara's hand, she did that and stood up. She looked around in the middle of the desert to see if there was a trail that would lead her to a nearby village.

Only that she was not in the middle of the desert anymore.

* * *

End of Chapter 22

* * *

**Is that confusing? XD I hope it's not, but everything will be explained in the next chapters. **

**It would be lovely if you could review! :D **


	23. Chapter 23:Devil May Care

**First of all, I would like to apologize for the late update. All kinds of assignments came barging through my door, and like everyone else, I had to welcome them with open arms. XD**

**But anyway, here is Chapter 23. I hope that you enjoy reading this! And please correct me if there are any grammatical errors. ^^**

* * *

Chapter 23-Devil May Care

Eva could not help but to be stunned to the ground.

She did not know what else to do except to stare blankly at the sparkling blue river in front of her. With her emerald orbs remained wide, she made a few steps closer to the strangely-peaceful river, which was flowing serenely, as if it was supposed to be there. But it was not supposed to be there, because a desert is supposed to be completely dry and sparse and devoid of water. She continued to look around frantically, watching the shadowed trees nearby waving at her with their brown bony branches in the somber night. In an attempt to avoid the gaze of the dark haunting trees, she then turned to her left, only to be greeted by another mass of monstrous trees. The forest was equally eerie and creepy.

Eva caught her breath. The more she dilated her eyes to see her surroundings, the more it dawned on her that she indeed was anywhere but the desert.

"_I have to be dreaming. This can't be real. It can't be."_

Eyes blinking and heart racing, Eva made a few hesitant steps forward towards the quaint river. The reflection of the bright full moon and of her own beamed at her with pure silence and innocence, and everything that her eyes were seeing was undoubtedly a far cry from the xeric condition of the scorching desert.

The whole place was simply beautiful, and it will be more beautiful, if and only if she knew exactly where she was.

"_How on earth did I get here?"_ Eva bit her lips in deep thought, pondering in deep silence, _"No, definitely not! This must be a dream. It's just too ridiculous to be a reality. Like it or not, I got to wake up."_

A simple method to wake up from a contagious dream is to wash your face with cold water. Feeling slightly idiotic for having this illogical dream, she held out her hands towards the cerulean blue water flowing near the river bank, until she realized that the water that she was going to lay her fingers on was not cerulean blue…

It was _blood red_ in colour.

Eva gasped. She was about to scream for her life, when something in the deep maroon water came floating almost in her direction. It was something that she had totally forgotten, and the sight of it gave her instant flashback of what she had gone through before. She had been too busy filling her mind with extreme paranoia that she had completely forgotten about the most important thing.

"_This may be a dream, but I still have to find Deidara. That jerk-face must be around here somewhere."_

Eva gingerly took the broken arm from the surface of the crimson water and gave it a curious look. A wet tongue, which was drenched with saliva, was hanging out from its gaping mouth like a long and elastic sausage. In any other situations, she would have felt very disgusted by it, but she decided to save the 'gross feeling' for later. With the limp, bleeding arm in hers, she turned behind to start her search for its owner, but she did not have to search for long…

Like magic, Deidara was already lying on the lush grass right behind her. If Eva did not stop herself at the right moment, she would have stepped on Deidara.

"There you are!" Eva expressed her relief with sarcasm, "You've been very helpful to pop up here all of a sudden! Now would someone explain to me what's going on?"

Deidara neither made a movement nor a sound. Eva sighed with regret; it crossed her mind at once that whatever strange things that had occurred just now, Deidara had never came to. Suddenly, she felt so helplessly lost, as if without someone to rely on, she was not able to do anything useful…

"_I'll blow you __up if you don't stop crying, un."_

Eva thought that she had really heard Deidara spoke those sweet comforting words, before she realised that he was still down and out. Although Deidara's voice was just her own self-make-believe imagination, it did prevent her tears from falling. In fact, it did make her happy and blissful; she did feel the inner strength to make something out of herself, though she may not be a ninja like most of her friends.

Eva wanted to prove herself that she could do something without anyone's help, at least for once...

"_Deidara, you're such a big and ugly jerk!"_

Eva cursed mentally, as she tore her gray skirt with her bare hands, not wanting to believe that she had just done that just to provide a roll of bandage for a stupid crook.

O O O

"_This is so degrading!"_

"_I can't believe I'm doing this!"_

"_When you wake up, you're so dead!"_

Eva thanked her God in silence, when she tied a small white knot on Deidara's newly-bandaged stomach, ignoring the bloody old bandage and the torn Akatsuki cloak sitting near her bare feet. She gave it a last strong thug to ensure that the bandage-her ruined long skirt-would not be loose. After getting the job done with perfection, she pulled Deidara's folded shirt down to his waist, covering up the bandage together with his exposed navel.

It just so happened that Eva had learned how to use a bandage when she was small, but she had never thought that she would use the living skill in a real-life situation. Furthermore, she had never liked the thought of being a nurse to someone, especially if that someone was a 'Super-Ranked Criminal'.

"_You better thank me for that later, you dirty jerk-face!" _Eva's fingers reached out to brush off the tiny grains of sand hiding in Deidara's right eyebrow,_ "You see how filthy you-"_

Eva's train of thoughts came to a rude halt. A warm and pleasant sensation had just glowed in her chest, rose up through her throat, and eventually came to her face. Her smudged cheeks felt hot without any reasons. Before she could realise what she was doing, she found herself staring fondly at Deidara's peaceful face, taking in every part of his facial feature; his faintly swollen lips, his closed weary eyes, his soft golden sandy eyebrows...

Eva rubbed her dainty forefinger softly against the antagonist's thick eyebrow, unaware that someone had been watching all her actions in silence...

"If you keep doing that, my eyebrows will go bald, yeah."

Scandalized with what she heard, Eva quickly kept her fingers back to herself. She stared at Deidara with less fondness and more despise, hoping and wishing that Deidara would just forget everything that he had seen, or at least he would pretend that she did not do it. Her heart immediately skipped a beat when Deidara smirked.

"You're the one who did this, un?" Deidara raised himself up slowly, his black-and-blue fingers feeling the crucial spot on his stomach.

"Don't mention it," Eva shook her head with a fake tiny smile on her chiselled face, "I'll do the same for my puppy."

Much to Eva's surprise, Deidara's smirk grew wider, when he was supposed to glare at her with volcanic blue lava eyes of his.

Deidara massaged his neck gently, "Where is this place, un?"

"Do I look like Miss Know It All?" Eva spoke flatly, "I don't know where we are. All I know is that we suddenly end up right here. It was like some kind of black magic cast on us!"

"There's no black magic, only advanced jutsu, un," Deidara scrambled to his feet with pain etched on his smeared face, drawing a concerned look from Eva.

The young terrorist scratched his chin, _"This flawless transportation...It must be the work of a powerful eye technique, un."_

"Oi!" Deidara's blonde head turned to Eva, who was sitting on the carpet of grass with her face buried on her knees, "Did you see that Copy Ninja around, un?"

"In case you didn't know, I didn't see anyone here," Eva answered bluntly, her eyes looking bored and tired, "In fact, I don't see why anyone should be here in the first place. This place..."

Eva chewed on her quivering dry lips, eyes looking around warily in every direction in fear that a serial killer might be hiding in the bushes nearby.

Deidara laughed, "It doesn't take much to scare you, eh? Tobi is scared of lots of things, but he's never scared of a place, yeah."

Feeling rather offended, Eva tightened up her right fist, "That's because he is a ninja- Ouch!"

Eva opened her hand to see what was on her palm. But before she could give it any further observation, Deidara snatched her hand and studied it like a gifted fortune-teller. He had been squatting down next to Eva without her knowledge.

"Oh, it's just a scratch, un," Deidara could not resist grinning at the 'masterpiece' that he had carved on Eva's palm himself.

"Just a scratch? JUST A SCRATCH?" Eva repeated her question with utter bewilderment, "I had lost a chunk of flesh, and you still call it a scratch? Unbelievable!"

A disapproving frown marked on Deidara's bruised face, "That's still a petty scratch to me, yeah. If you still think that's a chunk of flesh, what do you call this, un?"

As though it was a piece of firewood, Deidara bluntly grabbed his amputated arm from the ground and held it up in the air. He gave his own arm a little wave to stress on the seriousness of his arm's condition, besides waiting for any interesting and humorous expression-preferably a disgusted look- on Eva's face.

However, the only look that Eva gave to Deidara was a look of sadness and sympathy; she simply could not understand how Deidara could endure so much pain and agony, but seeing the constant never-wavering smirk on his face, it was as if he really enjoyed them. It was something that she could not comprehend; she hated pain as much as she hated death. Pain usually leads to death, and if Deidara continued with his devil-may-care attitude, he would inevitably one day...

"Your parents must have pampered you like a princess," Deidara smirked with satisfaction in his teal-blue eyes, thinking that Eva's speechlessness was for his disgusting broken arm, and not for his _fragile_ life.

Eva looked down.

"I bet they're worried nuts that you're stuck here with me, un," Deidara added, his grazed fingers uncoiling his long blonde hair, allowing his ponytail to flow freely on his head down to his broad shoulders.

"Probably..." Eva was gazing longingly at the poignant, luminous river, "If they are still alive..."

Deidara snorted, "Consider yourself lucky. I don't know who my parents are, un."

"What happened to them?" Eva turned to stare at Deidara with shiny watery eyes.

"They are dead. Anything more specific than that, don't ask me because I'm not capable of answering, un," Deidara ended with a proud smug, and then chuckled softly; Eva had turned away in an effort to hide her tears that was pooling at the corner of her eyes.

How she wished she could be like Deidara. Saying her parents are dead without any tears was not something she could do easily...

When Eva felt pressure on her right swollen palm, she turned back to face Deidara, whose fierce azure eyes were examining the bite mark he had made with his teeth. His long fingers followed the traces of the already-dry red lines on her palm.

"Gomen (Sorry)," Deidara muttered, almost reticently, "I'll get someone to heal this bite mark, un."

Eva felt uncomfortable when Deidara went caressing her palm in a circular pattern with his thumb. She hastily pulled her hand away from him and looked away from his direction, acting as though she had been admiring the twinkling stars reflected beautifully on the river. A bright tinge of pink filled her cheeks, but the mild darkness of the area camouflaged her embarrassment.

Taking Eva's hesitation as a sort of rejection, Deidara frowned furiously. If Eva was Tobi, he swore that he would finish her off with his art. Awkward silence continued to blend with the blackness of the mundane night.

But it was eventually shattered into pieces by a simple question.

"How did you get those mouths on your palms, Deidara?"

End of Chapter 23

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**Actually, this chapter has a few more paragraphs to go, but I had to stop there. I had realised that this chapter was getting long, so I had to save the rest of the chapter for next time. **

**In case you're wondering, the title 'Devil May Care' refers to Deidara. XD**

**Please tell me whether you enjoy reading this chapter, because...well, I'm not used to writing love stories (I usually write stories about friendship, humour, action and magic-something like Harry Potter) so your reviews would definitely be helpful.**

**Last but not least, have yourself a very merry Christmas and a happy, prosperous new year! o^.^o**

**-Lightning Blade**

**P.S: For those who have been reading this story till this far, please pay a visit to my profile because there is a voting poll waiting for you there! XD**


	24. Chapter 24:Masterpiece

**Finally, this chapter is done! Yay! **

**This chapter is not something that I had expected but anyway, I hope that it goes well with the flow of the story. And I really, really want to end this story soon, because it turns out to be ridiculously-long! XP I don't want it to be long-winded, huhu...**

**Don't forget to go to my profile and cast your vote, if you haven't! ^^**

**Before I forget, there is a little mature content in this chapter. It is not very detailed, but there is a hint to it. If you can't stand that part, just skip it. XD**

**Last but not least from me, happy reading! :D**

* * *

Chapter 24-Masterpiece

"How did you get those mouths on your palms, Deidara?"

Eva arched a quizzical eyebrow in Deidara's way, her chin resting comfortingly on her knees which she had been hugging since then. She hated to admit it, but Deidara's multiple mouths did catch her attention and arouse her curiosity more than ever; a person with twelve fingers is rare, but a creature with more than one mouth is simply out of this world. That is only when the Akatsuki criminal could be considered as a creature. Sometimes Eva did wonder whether he came from the outer space.

"You must be pretty freaked out of my mouths, yeah?" A self-conceited smile lined below Deidara's slightly red nose, "They are not weird, un."

Eva forced out a jeering laughter,

"Of course they are not weird! By the way, I have a pair of eyes on the back of my head and two noses under my armpits."

"Sounds interesting to have them, but they won't do much in a combat, yeah. You could end up dead with your eyes wide open and your noses bleeding under those smelly armpits," Deidara smiled mischievously.

"Would you stop cursing me, jerk-face? Haven't you heard of the word 'sarcasm'?"

"Yeah, I heard of the word 'sarcasm' but yours is lame, un."

Eva stared, affronted. She pulled out a handful of damp grass from the soil and threw it at Deidara, only to earn another equally-annoying, cocky smirk of his; her dead leaves, instead of charging towards his face like dangerous missiles, were stuck on her palm, and remained moist, gluey and icky.

Feeling revolted, Eva washed her contaminated hands in the clean river, inwardly cursing her stupidity. The moment she soaked her hands in the freezing water, a tingling pain burst from the bite mark into her veins, and she cursed herself even more. She squeezed her watery eyes tight.

"Cry like hell if you feel pain. I promise I won't laugh, un."

Eva heard the sick sarcasm in Deidara's voice, though she could have easily mistaken it as something else. She had hoped that those words came out from his mouth were out of his genuine concern for her, and not just to find amusement out of her misery. Secretly, she found him somewhat charming-not like the usual prince charming's 'charming', but he was charming in the sense that he was evil...

"_He's charming because he's evil? And because of that, I'm supposed to go head over heels for him? Yeah right..." _

Brushing that laughable, nonsensical thought off her mind, Eva focused all her thoughts in scrubbing the dirt and dry blood off her palms, until her attention was completely swayed by a new reflection that had already formed itself next to her own on the calm water. Eva looked at it in a suspicious manner, observing how Deidara chewing something soft in his remaining hand with much passion and pride in his eyes.

There was already something in him that she had begun to see and admire. However, confessing about it was another thing.

"I still don't get it," Eva said, half-cynically, half-innocently, "What is so special of having two extra mouths? So you can eat with them?"

"Having these extra mouths don't make it any special,un."

Deidara opened his palm and released a beautiful white dove that went soaring above the sky, before it exploded into bright flashes of red, blue and green lights. He quickly turned to look at Eva, whose lips were already slightly parted with awe and admiration at the breath-taking sight. Pleased with the response, Deidara gloated,

"It's what you create out of them that makes them special. But you haven't seen what my chest-mouth can do, yeah?"

Eva had to blink her eyes a few times before she could find the right words to say.

"Chest-mouth? You got another mouth on your chest? You're kidding, right?"

Deidara leaned closer to Eva and grinned, "Want me to show you my chest-mouth, un?"

"Thanks, but no thanks!" Eva looked away in panic to hide her tomato red cheeks, "Instead of showing me a mouth, most probably you'll just show off how hairy your chest is!"

Eva cringed when she heard another impish chuckle coming from her behind.

"You really think too much. No worries, yeah. I won't bite you this time, un."

Eva fell into prickly silence, but eventually, her curiosity got the best of her. Her head slowly turned behind. When Deidara began to take off his sleeveless fishnet-shirt, Eva's heart jumped up sky-high, but it immediately sank back to the bottom of the ocean; there was nothing which can be called a 'mouth' on his half-bandaged abdomen. She was hit with a tsunami of disappointment when all she saw on Deidara's chest was a stitched cut and some weird tribal patterns, which were rather disturbing and horrendous, in her humble opinion.

"That is a mouth?" Eva narrowed her eyes with disdain, "Even a kindergarten kid know that's an ugly tattoo."

Much to Eva's rude shock, Deidara seized her hand and placed it on his stitched mouth. He gritted his teeth at her, his blue eye starting to be filled with hot red lava,

"Still think it's a tattoo now, un?"

With her hand remained on his chest, Eva managed to speak without stuttering, "You know what I think of that? That is the ugliest thing I have ever seen in my entire life!"

"Don't act all tough, baka!" Deidara caught Eva by her arm with so much pressure that she roared in agony, "At least you have to be surprised if you're not traumatised, un!"

"Surprised? Yes, I am very surprised at the fact that you don't have any chest hair! Are you even a proper guy? Girly-man!"

"You'll find out soon whether if I'm a proper guy,_ yeah_..."

Without any warning, Deidara aggressively pushed Eva onto the lush carpet of grass. Her emerald eyes shut themselves painfully, and her inside was grimacing, moaning after the sudden impact received by her body the moment she slumped against the hard unforgivable ground. It did not help her at all that she later felt a heavy weight crashing on top of her, almost breaking her spine into half. She opened her eyes...

...to find a pair of ardent, burning blue eyes looking intensely into hers.

"You're terribly frightened of me, aren't you? Tell me straight, un."

Eva had not quite registered into her grey matter that a half-naked man was straddling on her. Too petrified to say anything, she could only watch Deidara's face leaning forward to her lips, unintentionally blurting out a few audible words,

"Don't...come any...closer...you jerk...face..."

When Deidara's bruised lips got too close for comfort, Eva received them with a full passionate kiss. She had her eyes squinted dreamily; her heart was pricked cruelly with thorns of painful hesitation and awful guilt, her mind telling her relentlessly that the lips which she was caressing were owned by a criminal. A soft glow of light escaped from the end corner of her eye, but she took it as a tear of happiness, regardless of how sad and painful it was to love someone who would not be with her till the end of time.

"_Don't ever let me go. I want to stay like this forever with you, Deidara." _

Eva gently licked Deidara's bottom lip with her tongue, her arms wrapped around his neck to pull him nearer to her, to feel his heart beating on hers, and to know that he felt the same way for her too.

Deidara exerted extra pressure onto her tender lips, taking in the sweet taste of white vanilla as much as he could from her, breathing out a soft moan every time Eva's tongue accidentally touched the open wound in his mouth. The stinging pain forced him to shut his eyes, his left hand reaching hungrily for her slender neck to kiss it. Never in his life had he wanted to have a serious relationship with a girl, but she was different, as though she was the only beautiful piece of art in the universe for him to hold, appreciate and cherish...

"_We won't be living for eternity but..."Deidara's hand took Eva's and placed it firmly on her stomach, "I won't mind us creating a 'masterpiece' out of this, un."_

Unknowingly to her, Deidara's hand slowly crept past her torn skirt, pressed subtly on her thigh and was about to...

**"_Deidara!" _**

_**Stern and distinct, the ungodly voice suddenly pierced through Deidara's thoughts like a shotgun bullet shot through a glass. **_

**"_It has been a whole week since I heard from you," the much-familiar voice added without any humour, "If you're not dead, come here immediately."_**

_**Deidara made much effort not to ventilate, "Leader-sama, don't disturb me...I'm busy, un."**_

**"_Busy doing what?"_**

_**Upon his leader's direct enquiry, Deidara sighed in extreme exasperation.**_

**"_I'll come as soon as I can. By the way, perfect timing, un."_**

**"_You're the most inactive member in this organization," The voice warned, "Don't disappoint me again."_**

**"_Pft, you're the one who got me into this bloody hell organiza-"_**

_**Deidara stopped, almost forgetting that the voice was still listening to him attentively.**_

**"_Come again?"_**

**"_Never-mind, un."_**

With his unusual-looking hand, Deidara cradled Eva's face and carefully removed his drenched lips from hers. He was expecting a complaint from Eva, but instead, she caught her sleeping peacefully, her eyes remained closed, her delicate maiden lips curled into a lovely smile.

Heaving a regretful sigh, Deidara slowly hoisted himself up, grabbed his already-cold, limp arm and his dark undershirt from the ground, and slung it over his aching shoulder. He was going to hobble his way towards the deep forest, when someone unexpectedly called out to him.

"Hey! Where are you going? Are you going to leave me like this, jerk-face?"

"I'm going to be away for a while, un," Deidara continued walking without turning behind, "Don't go anywhere, you hear me, yeah?"

"Deidara!"

He halted and turned to look at Eva furiously, "What is it, un?"

Before Deidara saw her coming, Eva fell into his arms into a warm embrace, catching him off-guard. Still having the blank look on his face, he watched her laying her head on his chest-mouth underneath his soft yellow curtain of hair, her voice dropping to a gentle whisper,

"You must come back. I'll wait for you."

Deidara felt a strange kind of happiness manifest at the bottom of his heart. At those emotional words, a teasing smirk was drawn upon his adorably-sinister face,

"Are you even a proper girl? Your chest is too flat for my artistic taste, yeah."

Eva gasped, pushed Deidara away and stared at him, "What do you expect? I'm only fifteen, you sick pervert!"

"Fifteen?" Deidara made a hand-sign, still smirking, "I'll remember that, un."

With that, Deidara vanished into thin air, leaving Eva with her mouth ajar. She was going to ask about what he meant by his words, but she was left with no other option but to wait for him to return. She truly did not mind waiting there in the dark alone, except for one thing...

"_This mosquito bite is killing me!"_ Eva lifted her skirt up to have a quick examination of her right thigh, but what she saw drained the colour from her face.

"_Don't tell me that cocky psycho bit me again..."_

O O O

"I know you're up there, un! Come down, Tobi!"

Deidara was glaring up at a tree trunk, waiting for his pupil to show himself. Like what he had expected, a masked man jumped down and rather in a comedic fashion, he landed into the bushes flat on his butt. After what sounded more like an old man's groan than a childlike whimper, the mysterious man clumsily came out from the shadowy bushes, sending broken, dead leaves flying, spreading messily into the air.

"Tobi didn't see anything!" Tobi waved his arms wildly, his mask somehow crooked, "Tobi swears! If Tobi's lying, Tobi will get struck by Copy Ninja Kakashi's Lightning-"

"You're one annoying kid, Tobi. Listen here!" Deidara ordered, "I need you to do something for me, un."

The hole on Tobi's mask lighted up like a bright red bulb,

"Oh! What Tobi can do for you, Sempai? Tobi can do anything! Tobi is a very good boy!"

* * *

End of Chapter 24

**I hope that you can get what Deidara meant when he thought of creating a 'masterpiece' with Eva. But if it is still not clear, it means 'starting a family'. XD**


	25. Chapter 25: Windows to His Soul

Chapter 25-Windows to His Soul

Tobi was having a hard time to stay awake.

Sitting under a dark and huge tree, he was staring hard towards the gleaming river, his back leaning against the tree's wrinkled trunk, arms neatly crossing in front of his broad chest. Every now and then, he felt the weight of his eyelid was trying to overpower his own strength, no matter how much might and vigor he had mustered in keeping his eyes open. Gentle, cooling wind caressed his skin softly like a loving touch. As he was about to shut his tired little eye once and for all, his heart jolted. Eye as wide as a saucer, Tobi yelped out in a hurried whisper,

"Tobi can't sleep! Tobi must keep an eye on that pretty lady! Tobi…musn't…" His eyelid was coming down and down with each word he mumbled, "_Sleep…_"

O O O

"What have I done wrong to be punished like this?"

Eva muttered in a flat, resented tone, as she tossed a small rock into the calm river, prompting a huge ripple to shape itself on the surface of the gleaming water. She then turned to look down at her weary, poor legs, which were soaked in the soothing water, and they were no longer in their best condition. Scratches and ugly marks were all over her soles due to the simple but harsh fact that she had no more slippers to wear. One was broken by the fall, and another one was left at the theatre, if the theatre was still in one piece when she returned.

Eva breathed out a long miserable sigh. If this was the fairy tale of Cinderella, she would rather be sweeping the filthy floor for the rest of her life than being spirited away to God-knows-where.

Things got worse when the sudden itchy sensation swelling on her thigh was killing her inside. Too afraid to give the bite mark a scratch in fear of making it worse, she sprinkled some water onto the teeth-print, which did nothing to help; it was still stinging and itching to no end.

"Who does he think he is?" Eva bit her lips with hellish fury, "My Princess doesn't even dare to lay a tooth on me! That jerk-face better don't give me any rabies!"

As soon as the last word left her mouth, she felt as though something slimy was sticking beneath her gum. It had been leaving a bad taste in her mouth, and she had not realized anything about it until that particular moment. Wondering what it was, she gingerly dug it out with a finger.

On her fingertip was a tiny, moist piece of clay.

At first, she did not know how to react. Her heart was hammering hard against her own ribs, her throat swallowing a bitter lump of saliva, head swimming with anxiety.

"_Did I kiss a guy who eats clay bombs for breakfast?" Eva paused when her stomach took the chance to growl loudly for food, "Speaking about 'breakfast', I only had Gaara's ice-cream this morning, if that can be considered as 'breakfast'…"_

She closed her eyes miserably. While trying hard to avoid hearing all kinds of noises made by her famished stomach, she suddenly heard a fizzling sound. Eva opened her eyes to find herself staring at bubbles popping up on the surface of the river, somewhere near her soaked feet. She would have wanted to have a nice, perfumed bubble bath, if only she was at her home sweet home.

Sensing something amiss, she was going to get her feet back onto the grassy ground. As she was starting to lift her legs up, the mysterious water pulled her feet and dragged her down…

_Splash!_ Eva regretted joining the drama club instead of attending swimming lessons.

"H-h-help! S-s-s-somebody-"

Eva gasped for air, her arms flailing for the river bank which was already out of her reach. Water began racing through her throat and filling up her lungs by force, causing her chest to become so tight she could no longer breathe. Strangely, she could feel her eyes started to water, even though she knew that the freezing water from the river was getting in her eyes.

She looked up aimlessly at the bright light, which had begun to fade away from her. As she was sinking down like a broken and forgotten doll, she was squeezing her eyes painfully, thinking that her wish would finally come true…

"_Mommy…Daddy…I'm coming…"_

"_I'm going to be away for a while, un. Don't go anywhere, you hear me, yeah?"_

"_Deidara?" Eva opened her eyes, "I made a promise that I would wait for him. I can't die...not yet...not now..."_

Holding on strongly to her words, Eva slowly raised her hand up to the gleaming surface, waiting for a miracle to happen. She believed that no fairy-tales should end with sad endings, and she wanted her ending to be a happy one. When the last breath of air was about to leave her dying lungs, Eva shook restlessly; she just felt a powerful surge of waves went rushing her to the edge of the flowing stream. The waves were as mysterious as the mass of water which had dragged her down into the river.

She thought the waves looked much like a shark....

O O O

_Cough! Cough! Cough!_

"I never thought..." Eva panted violently, her palms wiping the water off her pale emerald eyes, "I'll be...alive...thank-"

Eva looked up to thank her life-savers properly. However, she ended up staring at them with her lips parted open with no sound-not even a puff-came out. She froze onto the wet grass, scanning the two menacing figures from head to toe with her large, frightened eyes.

Both of them were donned in cloaks which bore the same crimson clouds that Deidara's cloak had, meaning that they must be S-ranked criminals. Eva found it hard to keep staring at the taller man, whose shark-like face was complete with distinctive white eyes, fish gills and sharp fangs. On the half-shark's shoulder was a gigantic, bandaged sword, which he wielded with much ease and pride; Eva could immediately relate his evil smirk with the flaming-red-costumed old man hanging almost-lifelessly on the massive sword.

The raven-haired man beside him was not any better. His eyes were so weird and red that Eva was sure he was a non-ordinary human being.

"You must be Deidara's sweetheart!" The shark-man grabbed Eva's jaw and pulled her face near to his, "Don't you think you're too cute for him?"

"Don't-touch-me!" Eva slapped his hand away, "For God's sake, get some facial treatment for your skin condition, dirty old shark!"

"Hah! She's a feisty one!" The criminal shark's smirk dangerously widened, "I like it!"

Before he could snatch Eva's wrist, much to her huge relief, the man with crimson red eyes spoke without much concern,

"That's enough, Kisame. Leader-sama is waiting for us. He won't tolerate it if we delay the sealing of Yonbi (four-tail) any further."

"I'm sure that Leader-sama would understand, since he put us in charge of being 'babysitters' to these lovebirds. Why can't he give the babysitter's role to that bipolar vegetable, Itachi-san? This job is perfect for an exotic creature like him," Kisame responded with jest.

"Our job here is done. Take that Jinchuuriki to the base before he gets weaker, Kisame," Itachi's Sharingan eyes fixed on Eva, "I shall come back to you later."

Half-surprised by Itachi's sudden interest towards the trembling girl, Kisame laughed flippantly, "Have fun. Tell me about it later, Itachi-san."

Eva was getting terribly-tired with disappearing ninjas. After Kisame vanished out of sight, the heavy bricks on her shoulders were lifted. In less than a second, they came crashing down into her stomach with a loud thud when she instantly remembered a suspicious portion of Kisame's sentence.

"_Have fun?" Her biological alarm blared alarmingly in her brain, "What fun?"_

Eyes remained cold and intense, Itachi made a few steps forward in Eva's way, his hand underneath his cloak pushing his zip down to its end. He calmly took it off, prompting a bump in Eva's chest. Her drenched self moved slightly back, trembled even more when Itachi was just three more steps away from her.

"If you try anything f-f-funny, I-I-I'll scream!" Eva quickly shielded her bosom defensively, her hands clutched tight at her collar.

Itachi took no notice of her reaction, "Change to this, or you'll catch a cold."

"What?"

Eva kept her blank gaze at Itachi, who tossed his Akatsuki cloak towards her. She caught it with a confused state of mind, not being able to say anything sound. Still wordless, Eva studied the criminal's face once again, this time more thoroughly than before; unlike Deidara's eyes which were much easier to read, his ones were strangely-empty. Somehow, she could see unforgettable sorrow hidden behind those mystical, strange patterns in his dark crimson eyes, but perhaps she could be wrong. Yet, she was very certain of one thing from taking a peek at those windows of his soul; he definitely had compassion.

Itachi locked eyes with Eva's for a brief moment, before closing them and turned behind to make his departure. Making a disappointed face, Eva called out as loudly as she could,

"Hey, wait a minute!"

Itachi halted and looked over his shoulder, his eyes glowing red with soft warmth.

"Whatever your motives are, thanks for your kind thoughts," Eva nodded with an appreciative smile.

"Hmph."

Eva almost screamed when Itachi transformed to flying black crows. How come he was so different to Deidara? She would never know....

O O O

"We are already behind schedule. I won't forgive you if any of you screw up."

Pein's foreboding rippled eyes pierced intensely through the sinister darkness, scanning all his members on their respective fingers. Most of the holograms had their eyes shut in concentration, focusing in sealing off the four-tail beast into the giant statue of a humanoid monster at the centre of the chamber, not giving any faintest thought to the elderly man floating in the mid-air. His gaping eyes and mouth were projecting bright pink effigies towards the mouth of the disfigured statue. The only sound that could be heard at that place was the sound of the deadly transfer, until another sound-a high-pitched, masculine voice-barked out of a mixture of boredom and dissatisfaction.

"If not for that pansy Deidara-chan, we would have sealed Sasori's Bijuu by now."

"Be grateful you're an immortal, un. You don't want me to blow you up into meat powder as an offering to Jashin, yeah," Deidara opened his eyes to glare at the silver-haired man on the left index finger.

Another voice, deep and serious, came from Zetsu, **"Sorry to say, but Hidan's right. Isn't it your fault that we had lost Sasori to Sunakagure?"**

"But it's not such a bad thing after all," a different voice was spoken by the very same plant-man, "We've seen that Jinchuuriki did quite some huge damage to that village. No one would have thought that he would be that powerful..."

**"So powerful that even one of the Konoha's finest medic ninjas almost died fighting him,"** Black Zetsu ended his report with a proud note.

"Who?" Pein demanded with great curiosity, "I assume it is the same person who defeated Sasori in the cavern. Tsunade's apprentice?"

**"Unfortunately, yes,"** Zetsu coarsened his voice, the black part of him giving a disappointed grunt, **"Sasori could have helped us get rid of that Konoha slug..."**

White Zetsu explained briefly, "She's only half-dead. What a shame really..."

"What the fuck? Only half-dead?" Hidan roared, "That godless Sasori shall be damned in hell for-"

"Shut up, Hidan."

Ignoring Hidan's endless curses for him, Kakuzu continued with poisonous green eyes gleaming in Deidara's direction,

"The problem doesn't lie with Sasori or you, Deidara-kun. It's that girl you're keeping. I'm afraid she got you distracted."

Deidara smirked dismissively, "I don't think so. Don't simply jump to conclusions before you get them right, un."

"Someone's in denial again. No offence, Deidara-kun, but that pretty lass has to go if you don't want to keep screwing up. Letting Itachi-san save your butt whenever your life is at stake...is not so cool."

Kisame laughed out loud in a derisive manner, rather satisfied by the same flabbergasted look on Deidara's face that he had seen when that 'spunky' bomb terrorist lost to Itachi a few years ago.

"_This should be interesting..."_

* * *

End of Chapter 25

**That's all for Chapter 25. I still have more to write for the conversation, but I have to save it for the next chapter. Hopefully, Chapter 26 is going to be the final one. I have the plot ready, so I hope everything goes well. **

**Thanks to those who have voted! For those who haven't, come to my profile and cast your vote! Your opinion matters! And if you review, that would be great! If you don't review, I wouldn't know if the chapter is all right or not... XP**

**Hmm...do I have anything more to say? Oh yes, thanks for reading! :D**


	26. Chapter 26:Red Apple

**Hi again!^^ I closed the poll just now, and I was like...aww man! Only 3 voters! XD**

**Thanks to all for have voted, but if you haven't voted, just tell me what you think in the review or message. You are always welcome to do so! **

**The results are: Deidara(2), and single (1). The others are 0. **

**This is the last chapter so I can finally call this a wrap! I was gearing to complete this story once and for all, because starting tomorrow, school starts for me so I can't afford to concentrate fully in writing anymore. (Though sometimes, I would write when I have the mood)^^**

**Here's the final chapter! Happy reading! :D**

* * *

Chapter 26-Red Apple

"_Letting Itachi-san save your butt whenever your life is at stake...is not so cool."_

What Deidara heard from Kisame was the last straw for him. His glowering eyes narrowed to the point that doing it hurt him faintly. He had just barely recovered from a life-threatening battle with the Kazekage that he despised so much; that 'sand brat' had joined in his list of people that he was looking forward to take out. However, there was always that person who was at the top of the 'most-hated-list'. Deidara's brilliant eyes switched from Kisame to Itachi (who was annoyingly as quiet as he had always been), then to Kisame again.

"Kisame-no-danna," Deidara's words to his senior echoed, reflected by the cracked walls, "Your joke is not funny, yeah."

"Kisame has spoken the truth," The leader's voice spoke, almost like a stern father to a naïve child, "I had told Itachi and Kisame to keep an eye on you to ensure that you won't do anything _foolish_. You are a great asset in this organization, Deidara. You should have known better not to waste your life unnecessarily."

Cold piercing silence filled the whole chamber, as Pein ended his line with a cold stare of final warning towards the blonde man standing a finger away from him, expecting somewhat an expected reaction from the terrorist he called 'a great asset'. As predicted, Deidara's hand was clenched so tight Pein could hear a strained crack even from a distance, even though both of them being mere astral images which emit loud buzzing sound that could have drowned every sound produced in the vicinity. Everybody was looking at the youngest colleague with morbid curiosity to know what would happen to a bomb shell which had just been provoked, prodded by a sharp twig. All except Itachi gave Deidara a look; the Uchiha prodigy closed his eyes deep in full thought, not acknowledging the look of pure hatred he could feel scorching in his way.

"Itachi," Deidara gritted his teeth, "Tell me Kisame-no-danna is lying, un."

"It is your right to believe what you choose to believe. Truth would become lies if you see it as lies."

Itachi slowly opened his eyes. Without his Akatsuki cloak, the intensity of what those eyes possessed became greater, but it was not only because of the missing cloak…

_The next thing Deidara knew, he was staring at himself, who was lying in a pool of blood on the icy, spine-chilling ground. A painful thought erupted in his mind at once. __**Isn't he at the place where he was going to end his life with his own artistic method? **__Calming himself down with a few silent breaths, he approached the other him with hesitating steps, trying to figure out why he was in the past all of a sudden. He could recall, although blurrily, that he had heard Tobi's cries for him before he blew up the whole building along with him. _

"_SEMPAI, DON'T DO IT!" _

_Deidara got the shock of his life when Tobi ran through him, as though he was a transparent ghost. Everything looked so solid to him, but it did not necessarily mean that he was a solid figure. He gulped. Was he already caught in a genjutsu?_

_What he had seen confirmed his worst, dreaded fears. Deidara saw everything in a blink of an eye. Tobi used a jutsu to transport his ignited bombs to another space, but it was not Tobi who did that. He felt certain coldness enveloped all around him, and he recognized that kind of coldness. A drop of sweat trickled down the curve of his pale face, as he slowly lifted his yellow lock of hair and brought it behind, allowing his specially-trained eye to open and to see everything for himself._

_The man whom he thought to be Tobi turned behind to face Deidara. _

"_You were already caught in my genjutsu since you looked into my eyes, Deidara."_

Deidara's shell-shocked eyes stared at Itachi's, "When did I-"

"On the first day we met," replied Itachi, uninterested.

"Impossible!" Deidara spat back, "That was a few years ago, un!"

"Didn't you know? With Sharingan, anything is possible, Deidara-kun," Kisame answered with an accompanying mocking laughter that would twist and turn anyone's stomach just by hearing it.

Deidara's fist tightened, "You think just because you have those overrated eyes, you're all high and mighty, heh? One day, I shall defeat you with my own masterpiece. You'll _see_…"

"There is only one person who can defeat me," Itachi's next words clung to Deidara like a stubborn curse, "A Sharingan user like me-my brother."

"Another Uchiha, hah?" Deidara smirked delightfully, "That's even better, un. I can kill you BOTH!"

A loud snort came from the manipulative shark-being. He had started to like this.

"Have you forgotten, Deidara-kun? The very reason why you're in Akatsuki is because you had lost to Itachi-san," Kisame shook his head with fake sympathy, "If you lose to him again, I can't imagine where you would be next, hehehe…"

A few more ugly red veins popped up on Deidara's eyes, which were filled with a monstrosity of eternal hatred and extreme loath for the person he was glaring at.

"I won't lose to you this time, Itachi!" Deidara let go of his bang, his voice almost hysterical, "Once I'll find you, you'll wish you've never been born with those goddamned eyes, un!"

To everyone's (except Itachi) surprise, Deidara disappeared after a nanosecond. Most of the Akatsuki would have given a roar of applause and encouragement for the youth's bravery of making that challenge, but the fact of Itachi being a stronger and more intelligent opponent remained an unarguable fact that was acknowledged by everyone. A challenge as foolhardy as that was impossible to be won, not to mention that it was fatal enough to send someone an instant trip straight to hell.

"Sasori was right," Kisame burst out into laughter with the irony of the situation, "That kid got spunk!"

"Damn it! You pissed Deidara-chan off and now we are stuck here sealing that fucking old fart for several more days! Screw you, Kisame!" Hidan snapped, brandishing his large rope scythe.

Kisame shrugged, "Blame that brat for having such a nasty temper. Though, it can't be denied that his girl is definitely worth a bite."

"It seems to me that you are very interested in her," spoke Kakuzu with a raised eyebrow.

After giving another grunt, Kisame flashed out a sly smile, "Who wouldn't be? That chick is so gorgeous she could prevent Hidan from reciting his prayers properly."

"HOW DARE YOU SHITHEAD INSULT MY ETERNAL DEVOTION TO HOLY JASHIN-SAMA-"

"Pein," Konan for the first time spoke out, unheard by the Jashinist who continued his swearing, "It is about time we do something about that girl."

This got Itachi interested. Hand-seal still perfectly formed in front of him, the Uchiha let his eyes observe the leader's legendary eyes, which ripples swirled in concentric dark circles. A glimpse of his deceased lover passed through Itachi's mind like a quick breeze of flashback, but a glimpse is still a glimpse, so he shook it off and watched Pein closely; more specifically, he waited for him to give an instruction. After all, sacrifices are necessary to accomplish greater goals. Itachi went back to focusing all his chakra in the sealing process, and at the same time, following the God's words, one by one, with deep concentration.

"I'll discuss with Kakuzu about it soon, Konan. After this sealing is done, I want all of you to retrieve Sasori back from Sunakagure."

O O O

Deidara was walking briskly, his fast and noisy footsteps frightening the wild animals nearby, causing them to scamper away in an uneasy kind of escapism. Dead broken leaves ruffled on his path to return back to the river. Everything had become crystal clear to him; Itachi was the one who brought him and Eva to where he was now, but he would have preferred it if it was just a silly old joke, a pure illusion…but no, it was all because of that genjutsu casted by that Uchiha that he was being played like a puppet with strings. Deidara kicked a large rock hard in rage. It flew up high and landed next to Tobi, who was still sleeping soundly like a baby under a large tree. He ignored that idiot nevertheless, and kept walking straight and…

Deidara stopped when he recognized the dark figure sitting near the river. The blonde man could not see that stated figure's face, for that person was practically facing the river with his back turning against him.

Whoever it was, that man had an Akatsuki cloak on, and the powerful aura coming from him showed that he was unmistakably…

"You can't hide now, Itachi," Deidara seethed, his hand chewing a portion of his remaining clay, "I'll show you what true art is, yeah!"

A beautiful flock of birds spurt out from Deidara's palms and went flying to their main target. Smirking with a hungry desire to kill, Deidara got his hand-sign ready and was going to shout something irreversible when the sinister figure turned behind.

"Baka!" was what Deidara shouted instead of a 'Katsu', "Is there any reason for you to be wearing that freaking cloak, un?"

Eva got herself up from the damp grass, her face terribly confused. She became more stunned than ever as she saw a couple of birds dashing above her head and soaring up above the sky. The scene looked perfectly romantic to her, till the lovebirds exploded in the sky with a big 'bang'. Not even a slightest idea she had in mind that she would be meat powder if she did not turn to look at Deidara at the right moment. She combed her wet silken hair with her delicate fingers, her lips pursing out in a drama-queen-like pout,

"It's just a cloak! Why do you have to be so upset about it?"

"Take that cloak off now, yeah!"

"No way, I won't!" Eva shot back, making a few steps back. **Can't Deidara just get the hint that that cloak is the only clothes she is wearing?**

Deidara's blood was boiling hot, "How many times do I have to tell you, un? Take that stupid cloak off, yeah!"

"You already told me twice, but that's not the point!" Eva stomped on her feet, "I can't take it off, and I won't take it off! Which part of my sentence you don't understand, jerk-face?"

"Since you won't take it off, I'll blow...ughh…"

Deidara pressed his stomach in a sudden pain, hair falling over his face when he looked down. He was forced to drop on the ground on his bended knees. Normally, Eva would have just ignored it because he deserved it, but somewhat, that sight of Deidara being in pain stabbed her in the heart like a sharp razor. She quickly ran to Deidara's side, her damp silky hair bouncing at her back as she quickened her pace.

"How many times do you have to be like this? You and your _pain_…It's getting so old!" Eva lifted Deidara's shirt up to examine his abdomen, but her wrists were quickly snatched by Deidara.

Eva stared at Deidara, who questioned, "You didn't let that Uchiha bastard touch you, yeah?"

"NO!" Eva gave a light push on his wound, frowning with concern as he winced a little. She then added testily, "I sort of fell into the river and I was wet, so there's a kind man who gave me his cloak. Is that wrong?"

"It's not wrong. It's just weird, yeah," Deidara's response was somewhat a result after a thorough thinking. _Itachi was never known for his kindness…_

"Weird?" What did you mean 'weird'?" Eva demanded with a jab on his chest, "Helping a damsel-in-distress is not weird, weirdo!"

Deidara chuckled, "No, I was wondering why he never touched you. Your flat chest must have turned him off, un."

More embarrassed than furious, Eva's pinkish checks turned rosy red, "You talked too much, jerk-face! So why don't you just shut up and eat?"

She grabbed a red apple (which she had plucked from the trees nearby by herself) from the ground. Deidara held his hand out for the fruit, but she pushed it into his mouth, rather hard till he was not able to say anything. She took another apple for herself and sat down at one spot, which was far enough so that she would eat and sulk peacefully. With a ponytail or not, Deidara was still as annoying as hell.

Quite pleased with himself, Deidara held the juicy-looking apple in his hand and gave it a brief look. As he was about to take a bite, the fruit emitted a smell which was not of an appetizing fragrance. He gave it a good whiff; the smell was somehow pleasing yet intoxicating, like 'sake' (Japanese wine)….

"Are you trying to drug me, un? Don't take me for a fool, yeah! Did Itachi give you this-"

Deidara's next word was suddenly interrupted by a girlish giggle, which sounded so maniacal it could come from a lunatic. He turned to look directly at Eva, but was immediately stiffened at the sight of Eva's face being just three inches away from his.

The expression on her reddening face was almost erotic; her emerald green eyes fixed in a straight stare, her full lucid lips were pursed in as if it was intentionally nibbled, her black soft hair was wet and shiny to amplify her beauty, and the worst (or best) part of all was her cold hands which reached for his sweaty cheeks. Deidara's heart was beating wildly like never before, the moment she pushed herself close to his broad chest. She rested her arms on his shoulders, a flirting smirk playing on her face.

"I know…" Eva spoke huskily, slightly moaning, "You want me, Deidara…I'm the reason why…you came for me, right? If you want to…make _love _to me…I'm all yours…."

Deidara was getting out of breath. He had never felt this way for any other girl or woman, and he knew there was no escaping it. He had always loved her being irritating, bossy and arrogant, but those were what he had liked the most about her. In other words, he just liked her being her; it just gave him the thrill to be with her, and she was giving him that thrill again.

Eva gently held his golden lock of hair in her hand and tucked it behind his ear. Deidara swallowed, waiting for her to have her pair of lips to rub passionately against his. He closed his eyes to fully enjoy the magic…

The magical feeling was cruelly snatched away by the sound of a thunderous snore. Biting on his lips, Deidara opened his eyes and watched Eva sitting upright, though she was sleeping with her lips puckered out in the air.

Deidara recognized that snore…

"What a truly artistic face you have when you're sleeping, un…WAKE THE HELL UP, TOBI! KATSU!"

"BWAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

O O O

"What in the world…Can't you guys keep it down? I'm trying to get my beauty sleep!"

The owner of the voice stretched out her body and yawned with a tear in her eye. She wanted to rub her eyes, but her fingers hit something hard; she removed that thing from her face, and was very surprised to see the bright orange mask in her hand. A million questions were posed to her by the strange existence of the mask, though she knew it must have come from Tobi. She remembered that that adorable-looking boy was wearing a mask as similar as that. A fond smile was carved across her sleepy face; that boy was good enough to let her sleep while he was keeping watch for any hooligans or bad ninjas in the surrounding.

Feeling that she had already slept enough, Eva rose up to her feet, and something fell off from the Akatsuki cloak which she was wearing. She quickly picked it up. It was a small book with orange cover and a scribble of a man chasing a screaming lady. Eva already had a bad feeling about this, but decided to read a few lines from it just to see if it was interesting. After moving to a nearby spot where she could receive the natural light reflected from the full moon, she read out,

"I know you want me, Darling. I'm the reason why you came for me, right? If you want to make love to me, I'm all…EEEEEWWWWW! Which disgusting freak is reading this? It must be that perverted jerk-face-"

"NO JOKE, NO FUN, DEIDARA-SEMPAI! DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT WE AKATSUKI ALWAYS ACT COOL AND CALM?"

"WE AKATSUKI WILL ACT COOL AND CALM ONCE YOU'RE DEAD, UN! KATSU!"

_BOOM!_

The land shook for a short while, causing Eva to almost lose her balance. With a hand on her hip, she looked up at the bottomless dark sky. Bright explosions of rainbow colours beautified the scenery, reflecting softly on her sparkling emerald eyes. She giggled quite unconsciously at the scenic yet hilarious sight of a boy screaming with terror; he was running as fast as he could across the river away from a gigantic white hawk. From everything that she had seen and heard, she knew her life would not be the same again.

The princess raced towards the river to try and save the situation, her heart smiling in her chest.

"_Mommy, Daddy…I have finally found him-my own psycho charming."_

**THE END**

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End of Chapter 26

**Phew! That's it for the final chapter. ^^ Any thoughts about the ending? Like it? Hate it? Think that the ending doesn't do the story justice? (Hopefully not!) XP**

**A friend of mine said that there is a big question mark about what happened to Sasori, but for now, all the details about Sasori are basically from Chapter 25 and this one. And as you all know, Sakura is 'half-dead', and that's the end of the development of Sasori's story. But I feel that a sequel would be necessary to tell what happened to Sasori, and also what kind of lives Eva and Deidara have to lead after that. Get married and have kids? And Tobi becomes the Godfather? (XP) Please let me know what you personally think. :D**

**Before I go, thanks to all those who have reviewed and read this humble story of mine. Your reviews definitely made everything possible. As a proof, I thought of ending this story at Chapter 5, but I managed to stretch it till this long. XD It brings a good laugh thinking of that. And the character of Eva brings me so much joy! She's a funny, weird and strange princess...I hope that you like reading about her as much as I like writing about her, hahaha...**

**Thanks again and all the best in your writing! o^.^o So long!**

**-Lightning Blade**


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